


It Happened like a Firefly's Light

by LHStylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Famous Harry, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Music, Non-Famous Louis, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Singer Harry, Smut, Songwriter Louis, niall is kind of an ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-07 08:13:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 47,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4256004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LHStylinson/pseuds/LHStylinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry stood there in the moonlight with his arms wrapped around Louis as the older lad swayed them in front of the building’s door, not sure what to say to him, how to explain himself. But at the same time all Harry could think was that friends don’t do this, two people working together can’t do this. At this point though he couldn’t care less about what he was told he couldn’t do. So before he let go of the man in his arms and without thinking he dipped his head and gently pressed his lips to Louis’ cheek, making the older lad freeze before he grinned softly to himself.</p><p>“Goodnight Lou.”</p><p>And before Louis could mutter anything back, before he could ask another question Harry released himself out of Louis' grip and walked towards the door of his building, but not without hearing a quiet “goodnight Haz” behind him.</p><p>Or</p><p>Harry Styles. It was a name everyone knew, a person the public loved. But he had one impossible task. Write and record his third album in a month. This is where Louis Tomlinson comes in. He wasn’t famous, not by any means. But this songwriter was going to make Harry's album possible. That is if fans, the media and falling in love don’t get in the way first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daggerslouis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daggerslouis/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is complete fiction, none of it is real. The songs used are not mine and I hold no claim to them.
> 
> I took the third prompt I was given and spun it off a bit, hope it isn't too terrible !!

 

 

  

Harry brushed his curls out of his eyes as he looked over his paper covered table. Scribblings of his messy handwriting and useless lyrics on each sheet. “Niall have you even met this guy?”

Niall let out a quiet noise, almost like a grunt as he kept his eyes on his phone, scrolling through his email and making a mental list of all of the things he had to do tonight. “No I haven’t,” he muttered, typing in the number of the proprietor of Wembley Stadium, needing to talk about tour dates. “I hear he’s amazing though, a true rising star.”

“How do you know he’s any good though? I mean this is important, this album will-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah make or break you, I know, I am your manager after all, I know these things,” Niall said, waving his hand at the curly haired lad before rambling into his phone and acting as if Harry wasn’t even there.

Harry let out a quiet breath as he shook his head and brushed his fingers through the front of his curls again. He began picking up his papers on the table, thinking that he’ll have to sort through them and see if he wrote down any relatively decent lyrics. But Harry highly doubted during his 3 am writing sessions that anything he put down on the sheets made sense, let alone sounded good.

As Harry scanned over his papers and looked over his writing it was clear four pages in that everything he put down was nothing but pure shit. So he crumpled the papers up and breathed out an annoyed sigh before throwing everything in the garbage. At least now his table was clean, but he still had an album to finish writing and record in a month. Whoever this guy is that Niall hired better be some type of miracle worker to help him finish this deadline.

Harry had to wait until Niall got off the phone to continue talking to him so he busied himself with cleaning his flat, not wanting this stranger to come into his house and think he was a slob. He really wasn’t that messy, it was just with this deadline coming up for the album Harry was a bit stressed and maybe slacked off on a few of his household chores.

“Alright, what were you saying?” Niall asked, pulling his phone away from his ear, only to start typing on it again.

Harry rolled his eyes at the older lad, knowing he was busy and stressed but they did need to actually talk. “Are you staying here when he comes?”

“No, I need to go back to the office and fix a few dates for your tour. I want to get you two nights in Madison Square Garden instead of one,” Niall said as he started pacing the living room again, nearly hitting the coffee table when he refused to take his eyes off his phone.

“Sure Ni, don’t ask me if I want to play two nights instead of one, you go right ahead and just do it, don’t mind me,” Harry said, irritation flooding over him as he continued picking up the kitchen, trying to get the past week's worth of dishes clean.

At that Niall looked up from his phone and it only took a single glance at his best mate to see how annoyed he was. “H I’m sorry,” he said quietly as he bit his lip and walked towards the younger lad. “This deadline is killing me too and with the tour a month after the album release everything is just kinda crazy right now,” Niall said, his voice strained with stress.

Harry let out a deep breath, not sure who made these dates so tight, but if he had to guess he would say this was the record company’s idea. And if it was them then there was no way they could not listen and do as they were told.

And just as Harry dried his wet and soapy hands, and was about to speak up to tell Niall something he saw his best mate on his phone again. But it was also the same time that the intercom began to ring.

Harry walked to the door, making his way from his kitchen and through the living room before reaching the button, and making the ringing stop. “Yes?” he asked into it.

“Hello Mr. Styles, we have a Mr. Tomlinson down here to meet with you.”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, having no clue who a Mr. Tomlinson was. “Is he the songwriter?”

There was a beat of silence from the other end of the intercom, Harry shifting his weight on his feet as he waited for an answer.

“Yes, he said that he talked to Mr. Horan about coming over today for a meeting.”

“Great, thanks Roy, send him up,” Harry said just before he released the intercom button and looked around his living room, trying to see if there was anything else he had to pick up.

It was odd for him to be nervous, but the person coming up to his flat was his last hope, and if this didn’t work out then Harry knew he would be undoubtedly screwed.

“Listen, this is Harry Styles we’re talking about here!  Not some bloke from a random bar who wants to make it big! He is big, he’s-”

Harry rolled his eyes and tried to ignore his pacing and screaming manager in the living room. “Niall c’mon, the guy is coming up, get off the phone,” he said, almost feeling like a mother telling her child to behave because company was coming over.

Niall waved his hand at the curly haired lad, not breaking his concentration on whatever the other person on the phone was saying.

Harry ran his fingers through the top of his curls and was about to go over to the Irish lad and take his phone from him before he heard a knock at the door.

He looked back at Niall as he walked towards the door, his manager not even paying attention to anything besides his phone. But Harry opened the door anyway, hoping that when this person came in Niall would at least try to act polite.

“Mr. Styles?”

Harry turned his head from where he was looking over his shoulder at Niall to the soft high pitched voice, but when his eyes were met with bright blue ones looking back at him he froze.

“Hi, I’m Louis Tomlinson, Louis is fine though, it’s great to meet you,” the man introduced himself, offering him a nervous smile as he stuck his hand out to shake.

Harry opened and closed his mouth, wanting to say something but got stuck on his words, feeling like they were caught in his throat. He looked down to the tan hand that was being offered to him, and somehow he managed to bring up his own hand and slip it into Louis’.

His hand was so much smaller than his own, almost being completely engulfed by it as they shook. Harry was almost mesmerized by it but someone clearing their throat quietly brought him out of his small trance.

He looked up and saw Louis with the same nervous smile, and small crinkles by his eyes as he looked back at him with the tiniest hint of pink making it’s way to his cheeks.

Harry realized he had been shaking this guy’s hand for an uncomfortable amount of time before awkwardly pulling away and scratching the back of his head, feeling his own face heat up.

“I’m sorry, uhm, I didn’t introduce myself,” he said sheepishly. “I’m Harry Styles, you can just uhm- you can just call me Harry though, that’s fine.”

Harry wanted to nearly hit himself for sounding so stupid and fumbling over his words, but luckily Louis didn’t even seemed phased by it as he just bit his lip and tried to keep in a laugh.

And then Harry saw Louis shifting his weight on his feet, fixing the bag on his shoulder and looking to his shoes, almost like he was waiting for something.

“Oh! I’m sorry, come in, come in,” he said, feeling even more like an idiot for making him stand in the hallway.

And again all Louis did was quietly laugh to himself and nod as he walked past Harry and into the flat.

Harry had to stand there for a minute and just let out a few deep breaths, needing to actually focus. Louis was here for a job, he was here to help finish an album that Harry wasn’t even a quarter through. This was important for his career, so that meant he couldn’t waste any time staring at this guy, this was about work.

“So uhm, you can set your stuff down in the living room if you’d like,” Harry said as he pointed to the couch, only to see Niall still on his phone.

Louis seemed almost hesitant to go anywhere near the living room though, as he too saw and heard the blonde man stomping around.

Harry ran a frustrated hand over his face before sheepishly muttering his apologies to Louis and moving past him to stop his pacing manager. He grabbed the older lad’s phone from him and as soon as it was in his grasp Niall turned to him wide eyed. And before he could grab his phone back Harry hung it up and gave it back to his best mate.

“Niall this is Louis Tomlinson the songwriter. Try to be polite,” he said as he motioned to the man his living room, only to see Louis nervously wave and smile at Niall. Harry swears he’s never seen anything more endearing than Louis’ little wave, and it was almost impossible to stop himself from biting his lip to hold a smile back.

“Hey, Niall Horan, Harry’s manager,” Niall introduced himself as he shook the young man’s hand. “I’ve heard nothing but great things, and I’m sure you’ll be a lot of help to this one,” he said, nodding to Harry who was just standing there and openly staring at Louis.

“Hey, idiot,” Niall said as he gently slapped his best mate’s cheek, trying to get his eyes off Louis. “Enough of the heart eyes, you need to focus,” he said seriously, making Harry blush furiously and Louis muffle a laugh into his hand.

Harry cleared his throat and quickly looked away from Louis as he saw him glance over to him, clearly trying to hide his own smile. And of course just as he was about to make an excuse for himself Niall put his hand up and rolled his eyes before looking back to his cell phone.

“H I’ll call you later, hope you two get something done today!” Niall called out as he pressed his phone to his ear and began making his way out of the flat.

Harry watched as his best mate left, and opened and closed his mouth before looking over to Louis and sheepishly smiling at him. “I’m uhm, I’m sorry about him,” he said as he pinched the end of his t-shirt between his fingers and looked to the ground, praying he wouldn’t say anything else that was stupid.

“It’s fine, really,” Louis said through a small smile before he started walking towards the couch to place his bag down.

Harry was about to open his mouth to protest, because Niall really could have been more polite but he was a bit busy looking at the sway of Louis’ hips as he walked. The way his black shorts hung low on him and his loose white t-shirt rode up a bit as he bent down to set his bag on the couch. How when Louis stood up he had to adjusted his beanie, only to glance up and smile at Harry as he caught him staring.

And again Harry had to quickly look away and clear his throat, very suddenly finding his shoes to be most interesting thing in the room. “Usually Niall is a bit friendlier, I promise,” he said, trying to get back to what he wanted to say before he got caught staring again. “We’re both just stressed and-”

“Really mate, it’s fine,” Louis said as he shook his head and began rummaging through his bag for paper and a pen.

“Right,” Harry mumbled to himself. “So is there uhm, is there anything I can get you? Tea or water maybe? I have some cookies too that I made yesterday if you want any of those.”

Louis looked up from his bag and flashed Harry yet another smile, this one reaching his eyes. “You really are what they say huh?” he asked through a quiet laugh.

Harry opened and closed his mouth, not quite sure what he meant by that. “I’m sorry, what?”

“The media,” Louis said simply through a shrug. “Harry Styles, the boy we all wish we had next door.”

Harry looked to Louis, only to see him wiggling his eyebrows at him and still laughing to himself. And Harry would be lying if he said that he doesn’t remember the headline about him that came out just last week. But now at least he knows that Louis keeps tabs on him. Maybe not intentionally seeing articles about him, but still, Harry felt his stomach twist at the thought of Louis doing research on him.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Harry played off like he had never heard that before, making Louis hum and shake his head.

“I’m sure you don’t popstar.”

Harry’s lips quirked up into a small smile as he saw Louis wink at him and tease him a bit, but then he remembered that this guy was here for a reason.

“So would you like a tour of the place before we get started?” he asked as he clapped his hands together and raised his eyebrows. “I can show you the music studio and just where the bathroom is and everything.”

Louis nodded at Harry’s offer and placed his pen and papers down on the coffee table before following him out of the living room and into a long hallway.

Harry pointed out the bathroom once they got to it and the guest room across from it. He pointed to his own room that was a bit further down the hall, and thankfully the door was closed, Louis not needing to see his mess of a room.

“Your place is really well kept,” Louis said as he continued following Harry and scanned over the various pictures he had hanging on the wall. Clearly most of them were his family as they all looked alike. “Better than any other 20 year old I know.”

At that Harry turned around slightly, raising his suspicion that Louis may have looked him up. “And how old are you?”

“22.”

Harry hummed and nodded his head, but if he were to guess Louis looked about 25. Yeah he dressed like a laid back 20 year old and had that boyish smile that made him go weak at the knees, but Harry thought that maybe it was the beard that made him seem older, made him seem more mature.

“Alright, and this is my music studio,” Harry said as he opened the last door in the hallway. “It used to be two separate rooms but when I moved in I had them knock the wall down and create this.”

Harry smiled happily to himself, always loving to come into his studio. He loved having a professional sound board and equipment right at home with all of his instruments in case in the middle of the night he had an idea for a song, and it wouldn’t even be morning before he had a final product on his computer. But one of those nights hasn’t happened in a long long time, and that’s why Louis was here.

“Do you play all of these?”

Harry looked up and saw Louis just barely ghosting his fingers over his guitars that hung on the wall and then moving to get a better look at the large grand piano he had in the middle of the room.

“Yeah, but only when I’m at home,” Harry said as he watched Louis take a seat at the piano and gently run his fingers over the ivory keys. “When I go on tour I usually bring about five of them.”

Louis nodded and smiled to himself as he got more comfortable on the piano bench, resting his right foot on the pedal of the piano. “You have an actual studio here,” he said quietly. “Like this is your recording booth and I’m going to assume that on the other side of that wall and glass panel is a computer and sound board?”

Harry shrugged sheepishly but nodded anyway as he rested his forearms on the cool piano finish, able to look over and see Louis’ fingers tracing over the keys. “You play?”

At that Louis let out a small laugh and bit his lip, but Harry did notice a tint of pink rising on the older lad’s cheeks. “Did your manager not tell you anything about me?”

“Uhm no.”

“Perfect,” Louis muttered as he ducked his head and looked to his hands that were still resting on the piano.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at that, not quite sure if there was something he should known. “You play instruments right? And you’ve written for other people before I’m sure.”

“Yeah, yeah I play instruments,” Louis said as he nodded to himself, but still refused to pick his head up. “But I uh, I’ve never uhm written for anyone before… I actually just graduated Uni two weeks ago.”

Harry felt himself freeze as he heard that. He was going to kill Niall. No matter how good looking this guy was it didn’t make up for the fact that he had to have a complete album done in one month, and this was the person he was relying on to help him write and record it.

“Please tell me you’ve written songs before…?” Harry groaned into his hands, already feeling more stressed than he was before.

“Yeah, of course, I’ve written loads,” Louis rushed out, not wanting to be fired. “I went to Oxford for music composition and-”

“Okay, but this isn’t classical music,” Harry pointed out.

“Who said I write classical?” Louis asked with raised eyebrows.

Harry wanted to bang his head against a wall. There was no way this could be happening. He needed someone who’s been in the industry, someone who knows what they’re doing.

“What do you play? Instruments I mean?”

“I was classically trained in piano and violin,” Louis said quietly. “But if you put something in my hand I can play it. Be it drums, guitar, bass, cello, just anything… I can play it.”

That gave Harry a little bit of hope, but he still didn’t know if this guy knew how to write songs, let alone the type of songs he usually performs. “Alright, play something, something you’ve written.”

Louis sat there for a moment and looked up at Harry but when the younger lad nodded to the piano Louis bit his lip and set his eyes on his hands before putting them in the [proper place](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_4utiBscIE).

There was a beat of silence before Harry watched Louis press down on the first key, only to see his fingers going back and forth and his wrists bending in a smooth motion to hit what he needed.

The notes were coming out clear and crisp, his timing perfect just before he opened his mouth to sing. And when Louis did so he did not expect what he was hearing from the older lad.

First line in and it was good. It was the type of music that Harry would play, the type of music that he wished he was able to write. The lyrics were hypnotizing, almost making it so Harry could imagine what Louis was singing about. They were clever, and easy enough to understand the meaning behind them, but through more thinking there was an underlying message being told.

What grabbed Harry though, out of everything else, was the story. The story of a couple who were happy, a couple who were in love, and maybe one person in that couple was more in love than the other.

And just from watching Louis play, watching his fingers glide across the keys and his voice that was still hesitant about what he was singing told Harry that he was that one in the couple. That he was the one who got hurt. And as much as Harry hated to say it, but that was what a song should translate. One’s feelings, and Louis hit it spot on.

Louis finished off with a quiet breath and slowly pulled his hands away from the keys before looking down at them folded in his lap. “Listen, I get that you probably don’t want to work with me, I-”

“No, no!” Harry said, almost a bit too quickly. “Please, stay! That was… I mean, wow… I just… I didn’t expect that.”

Harry scratched the back of his neck, knowing for a fact that he could’ve done a better job at wording that, but just from hearing this one song Louis wrote there was no way he was going to let him go. And thankfully enough, Louis for the first time in what felt like forever looked at him and nodded as he tried to bite back a smile.

“I’m sorry for what I said before,” Harry muttered as he ran his fingers through the front of his curls. “I judged you before I even knew what you could do, and that was wrong of me. You have so much talent, and I’ve only heard that one song. I’m a bit scared for whatever else you’re hiding from me.”

And if possible Louis smiled even more to himself, creating crinkles by his eyes, and already Harry decided that he liked this smile the most on the older lad.

“I heard you were also quite the charmer,” Louis said quietly through a small laugh as he looked back down at his hands.

Harry bit his lip, trying hold back his own grin as he felt his face heating up. “So uhm, what uh key was that in? G major?”

“Good ear but no, it was D major. You were close though,” Louis said, and when he looked up Harry saw his cheeks tinted pink as well. “Wanna learn a bit of it?”

Harry was a bit taken back by the offer, but nodded and moved to sit next to Louis on the bench anyway. And of course as he sat there was barely enough room for both of them and their sides were pressed against each other’s, but Harry didn’t mind, not in the slightest. And it seemed that Louis had the same feeling as when Harry sat his face began to turn a darker shade of pink.

“So it’s uhm, it’s, it’s actually quite simple, you just uh, you-”

“Are you okay?” Harry asked with furrowed eyebrows as he heard Louis stuttering.

“Hm? Oh yeah, yeah, m’fine,” Louis nodded to himself and let out a deep breath before bringing his hands up to the piano. “So when I first wrote it I originally had the bass just going from F, to G, to A, to B, them all being whole notes, but now I mix it up a bit and with my left hand I follow the same pattern as my right hand and-”

“You’re doing a terrible job of explaining this,” Harry said as he let out a quiet laugh and watched as Louis was also confusing himself. “I think I get what you mean. I’ll play it, you stop me if I’m doing something wrong.”

Louis pulled his hands away from the piano and nodded as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

Harry brought his own hands up to the piano, remembering the chords that Louis was playing and based on that he tried to piece it all together. But he couldn’t even press the second note before Louis stopped him.

“Here try this,” Louis said as he placed his hands over Harry’s and put them in the correct spot.

Harry swallowed thickly as he looked down at their hands, Louis showing no sign of moving his anywhere.

“This is how you should keep your hands, it’ll be easier when you get further into the song,” Louis said quietly as he gently moved his hands on top of Harry’s.

Harry let Louis move his hands to where they were supposed to go and watched as the older lad’s smaller hands molded onto his, and when he looked up it was Louis he caught staring at him this time.

“Sorry, sorry,” Louis rushed out as he snapped his head back down towards the keys. “Here, uhm, try that, it uh, it sounded good.”

Harry bit his lip as Louis removed his hands from his, already missing the softness and the warmth he felt against his own skin. But anyway he locked his eyes on the keys in front of him and began to play the song, his arm brushing Louis’ every once in a while and when he glanced up at the older lad he was grateful to see that he wasn’t the only one trying to bite back a smile.

*~*

“Alright, alright, H as much as I love hearing about your little piano lesson with Louis please tell me you got something done? Perhaps, well I dunno, working on new songs like you were supposed to?” Niall’s muffled voice came through the phone.

Harry pinched his lower lip between his fingers before muttering a quiet, “well not exactly.”

“Harry! What do you mean not exactly?! I’m paying this guy to help you write songs! What the hell were you doing all day yesterday then?!”

“Well he showed me how to play a song on the piano and then I dunno we just kinda hung out I guess?” Harry said, making it sound more like a question, and at that he could basically hear Niall rolling his eyes on the other end of the phone. “I mean he showed me what he can do on guitar too, and Niall holy shit you have to hear him. You’d think this guy was professionally trained on every instrument and-”

“Harry…” Niall stopped him, undoubtedly rubbing a frustrated hand over his face. “I know what’s going on and it needs to stop.”

Harry froze where he was walking around his living room and bit his lip, only imagining what his best mate was thinking. “What are you talking about?”

“H don’t give me that, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You have a little crush on the songwriter, okay, whatever, but don’t let it interfere with your work,” Niall said almost firmly. “That’s what this is, it’s work, and you don’t even know if he’s gay or not.”

Harry stayed silent for a moment, knowing that Niall was right. This was work, Louis was just someone they hired. “Alright… I guess today I’ll show him what I have and maybe we can try recording some stuff,” he said quietly.

“That’s what I like to hear.”

And that was all Harry got before Niall hung up.

He knew he had to get his shit together and actually start writing this album. He only had about five songs down and so far they were only very rough copies. So that meant he needed to write at least seven more and record all of them within the month.

Harry needed to get inspired, he needed something to grab his attention. But the only thing grabbing his attention right now was a knock at the door. “Come in,” he said just loud enough before shoving his face in his hands.

“Hey,” Louis said happily as he pushed open the door to the flat. “You alright?” he asked a bit worried as he saw the younger lad.

“Let’s go,” Harry said, not even waiting for a response before he started stomping out the door.

Louis opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything before he nodded and followed Harry into the hallway. And it wasn’t until they were in the lift, and on their way downstairs did Louis look over to the younger lad and nudge him with his elbow gently.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly, and when Harry nodded he bit his lip, not so sure about that. “Where are we going then?”

“We’re going out and getting lunch,” Harry said as the lift doors opened and he stepped out.

And again Louis was a bit stunned, but he followed after Harry anyway. “Are we walking?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Harry said as they got outside, already thinking of where he wanted to eat.

“Well no, I don’t mind… But won’t people recognize you?”

Harry looked over to Louis, seeing the older lad’s hair fall into his eyes before he brushed it away. “You’d be surprised how many people are more focused on getting somewhere in a timely fashion rather than noticing who they’re walking past,” he said through a quiet laugh.

Louis let his own smile slip as he walked beside Harry and nodded at him. “Here, at least take these,” he said before pulling out sunglasses from his backpack pocket.

“You don’t want them?” Harry asked with furrowed eyebrows as he hesitantly took them.

Louis rolled his eyes before pointing to his snapback, and that was when Harry saw that he wasn’t wearing a beanie today but a Louisville hat.

“Don’t tell me you got the hat just because it has your name on it?”

Louis shrugged with a sheepish smile playing at his lips as Harry pulled on the sunglasses and tugged at his arm gently to cross the busy London street.

“Ugh and here I thought you were actually a decent guy,” Harry teased as they made their way to the other side of the street and he released Louis’ arm.

“Whoa, alright, I don’t deserve that. You’re just jealous there isn’t like a Harryville or whatever. Don’t take it out on me popstar.”

Harry looked over and saw Louis already smiling at him, and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes playfully at the older lad.

The restaurant wasn’t far from his building, so it was a relatively quick walk for the pair. Occasionally Louis had to reach for Harry’s arm, or hold onto the back of his t-shirt so he could keep up and not get lost in the crowd. And whenever he did that Harry sent a knowing smirk over his shoulder, making Louis scowl playfully at him and only hold onto him tighter. But if anything that had Harry throwing his head back in laughter, and it wasn’t even be a second later when he got out of Louis’ grasp, only to try to run away from him and see if the older lad’s little legs could keep up.

“Harry!!” Louis groaned as he swerved around people and tried to chase the curly haired lad down the street.

“What’s wrong? Little Louis can’t keep up?” Harry teased as he looked over his shoulder, only to see Louis nearly sprinting after him.

“I don’t know where we’re going, you can’t do this!” Louis complained as he continued to run past patrons on the street.

Harry knew people were staring at them as they ran down the sidewalk, but he was far too entertained to stop what he was doing. “Then keep up!” he called over his shoulder, but it wasn’t even a second later he felt a strong force crash onto his backside, only to see Louis lunging at him.

Harry let out a shriek and a few people scowled and yelled at them to watch where they were going, but that didn’t stop Louis from clinging to his back. “Alright, alright, off, you animal,” he said through a loud laugh. “We’re here anyway.”

Louis didn’t say anything but instead flicked Harry’s ear and sent him a frown that turned into a small grin before he made his way inside the restaurant.

Harry stood there for a moment and smiled to himself as he let out a few deep breaths, but then remembered something. He wanted to go out to get inspiration, not fool around and goof off with Louis. So he gathered himself and made his way inside, only to see Louis already sitting at a table and scanning over a menu.

“Why are we so far back and hidden?” Harry asked as he took a seat across from him.

“I just didn’t think you’d want people to come in and recognize you and stuff… You seemed stressed earlier and I wasn’t sure if you didn’t want to take pictures or something.”

Harry looked up from his menu and saw Louis biting his lip, as if waiting to be told that it was okay that he had done that. “That was sweet of you Louis, thank you,” he said before sending the older lad a soft smile.

And Louis returned it before nodding to himself and looking back down at his menu.

“You and your giraffe legs need to get out of here.”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, he hadn’t even realized he stretched his legs out under the table until he felt Louis gently nudging his foot with his own. “Sorry,” he muttered sheepishly and just as he was about to pull his legs away Louis caught his ankle with his foot and kept him in place.

And again when Harry looked up to meet Louis’ eyes the older lad just sent him a small smile, and looked down to his hands before Harry could see the light blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“So uhm, uh, when we get back to the flat we have some work to do,” Harry said, scratching the back of his neck and trying to remember what Niall told him. This was work, nothing more.

“Okay sure,” Louis said as he nodded to himself. “Do you have anything written yet or are we starting from scratch?”

“I have five incomplete songs. Like the lyrics are written, and I know how I want the melodies to kind of go, it’s just the instrumental parts that need to be figured out.”

“My specialty, perfect,” Louis said through a quiet laugh.

Harry hummed his agreement and before he could say anything a waitress came up to their table and she couldn’t even ask if they knew what they would like to eat or drink before she recognized the man in front of her.

“Harry Styles…”

“What? Where?” Harry asked looking around the small cafe, making Louis muffle a laugh into his hand. “M’just kidding love, how are you?”

“Good, good, yeah I’m good,” the waitress said, still trying to gather herself. “I’m sorry, is there uhm, is there anything I can get either of you?”

“Could I have an iced tea and the barbeque pork sandwich with a side of mac and cheese?”

Harry waited until the waitress got Louis’ order down before telling his own. “I’ll just have water and a garden salad,” he said, offering her a small smile.

“What are you, a bird?” Louis asked through a snort.

“I happen to like salads,” Harry said, his own smile tugging at his lips.

“Yeah and so do little woodland creatures. Oh, but wait!” Louis said, snapping his fingers together like he had just figured something out. “Giraffes… Giraffes only eat leaves or whatever, okay mystery solved. You go right ahead and order your salad then,” he said teasingly, nudging Harry’s leg by his ankle, pulling him even closer.

The waitress looked between the two confused, clearly missing something, but she couldn’t miss how they were smiling like mad at each other.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” Harry said, handing his menu to the waitress, and as he kept his eyes on Louis he swears he’s never seen a more shit eating grin on the older lad.

“Good man,” Louis muttered as the waitress walked away with their orders.

Harry rolled his eyes, not even sure why he changed his order, but the reaction he got out of Louis was worth it enough.

The two sat there for a moment not saying anything. And that was when Harry really took Louis in. He took in the tattoos that were littered over the older lad’s tanned skin, one of them being a large [treble clef](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/87116574017163169/) nearly covering his entire bicep. Another was a [bass and upside down treble](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/467178161315955533/) clef that made the shape of a heart on his wrist. But then there were some random ones along his forearm. A cartoon looking [spider man](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/438467713695403517/), the only one that seemed to be colored and not black and white was dangling from a web down his arm, and at the sight of it Harry couldn’t help but smile. There were other smaller tattoos as well, one of them being a stick figure guy on a skateboard and to Harry they were all just random little things that Louis liked. But he would be lying if he said that it didn’t make the older lad that much more attractive. Harry had a fair share of his own tattoos, but on Louis ink never looked better on a person.

He hadn’t even noticed the older lad’s tattoos yesterday, but today he was wearing a tank top and they were in full view, and Harry couldn’t help but be captivated by them.

“So I was thinking.”

He snapped his head up from Louis’ arm and saw him combing his fingers through his hair before putting his snapback on again.

“I don’t know if you wanted to, but if you’d like you can have the song I showed you yesterday,” Louis said, not looking up from where he was playing with the hem of his tank top.

“What? No, no, it’s yours,” Harry said shaking his head.

“And what use do I have with it?” Louis asked through a small laugh. “Seriously if you want it take it.”

Harry bit his lip, not so sure about it until Louis nudged his foot with his own. He really did love the song, and it was one less they had to write. “Yeah, alright. When we get back to the flat we can record it.”

Louis smiled happily to himself, and just as he did so their food and drinks were placed in front of them.

It was almost immediate Louis dug into his, making Harry roll his eyes before he picked up his own sandwich, but then he thought of something. The song that Louis wrote was clearly about someone, there was an obvious story behind it. And maybe, just maybe if Harry asked the right way the older lad would tell him about it.

“So I was uhm wondering, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but what is your song about? The one you showed me?” he asked quietly.

He watched as Louis slowly looked up from his sandwich and swallowed before wiping his mouth and training his eyes on his food like it was the most interesting thing in the room.

“It’s uh, well I… I was dating this guy for a long time,” Louis began quietly, but already Harry was more than interested, at least now he knew that Louis wasn’t straight. “And I was just far more invested in it than he was, and I didn’t see that, and it was stupid of me,” he said, shaking his head and biting his lip as he looked to his lap. “I wrote the song after one of our fights, and like usual after our fight we pretended that it didn’t happen. I don’t really want to go into detail but in the end I broke up with him and left. I was just sick of being stuck in the same place with him and doing the same old shit over and over again.”

Harry swallowed thickly, not meaning to make the older lad upset. But it seemed that within a second Louis brushed it off like it was nothing and continued eating. So Harry followed his actions and began to eat his own food, not missing how the silence washed over them and how Louis very subtly, and just barely pulled their legs closer together under the table.

It wasn’t until they were both done eating did the silence break, but only because the waitress came over to take their plates and give them their check.

Harry insisted on paying for both since Louis didn’t even know they were going to lunch and it’s not like it made a dent in his bank account. So when the waitress had the check and walked away to cash them out Harry looked to Louis in what felt like forever, only to let out a small laugh.

“What?”

“You have a little…” Harry pointed to Louis’ chin where there was a bit of barbeque sauce.

But when Louis wiped his mouth he still missed it so before even thinking Harry picked up his own napkin and reached across the table. He steadied Louis’ head with one hand, gently placing it on his stubbled cheek before wiping his chin with the other.

And just as Harry realized what he was doing it seemed as though Louis did too before a deep blush came onto both boys’ faces. But still, Harry hadn’t removed his hand, he just looked at Louis, saw the older lad’s breath hitch and swallow nervously before someone clearing their throat made Harry pull his hand away faster than lightning.

“Here you are Mr. Styles.”

Harry looked up and saw the waitress passing his card back to him and he took it back before shoving it in his wallet. “You ready to go Lou?”

And Harry couldn’t stop himself as he felt the nickname slip, but Louis didn’t even seemed phased by it as he nodded and pushed himself out of his seat.

But before the pair left the waitress politely asked for a picture and Harry just as nicely said “of course” before Louis took the girl's phone and snapped a few pictures.

She thanked him and Harry sent her one more smile before tentatively placing his hand on Louis’ back and steering him out of the small cafe. And as they walked outside they were hit with warm June air, but also with a few camera flashes.

Louis froze where he was as Harry cursed under his breath and pulled on the sunglasses Louis gave him before subtly waving to the three paps.

He doesn’t know how they knew he was here; maybe the waitress tweeted about it, but all he knew was that he wanted to get home and that he didn't want Louis to get caught in this.

“Alright, you have your pictures, thank you,” Harry said as he nodded at them and kept his hand firm on Louis’ back, trying to get him to move. “Come on, let’s go,” he muttered into the older lad’s ear, earning a small nod from him.

And thankfully enough the paps didn’t follow them as they started walking back to the flat. But Louis did grab Harry’s arm as he did before, and this time Harry didn’t tease him about maybe getting lost in the crowd. Instead he leaned into the older lad’s touch and occasionally placed his hand on the small of Louis’ back so he would keep up.

When they got back to the flat Louis kicked off his converse as Harry did with his own pair before Louis spoke up.

“So do you want to show me what you have so far?”

“Oh uhm yeah sure,” Harry said as he began to lead Louis to the studio.

And as they walked there Harry remembered that the reason he wanted to go out was to get inspired, to maybe see something and want to write about it. But he was too focused on something, rather someone than thinking about what to write.

“When did you get this?”

Harry looked up and saw Louis pointing to the drum set next to his piano and smiled sheepishly to himself as he walked over to his music stand in front of his microphone to get his lyrics.

“I uhm, I got it yesterday after you left,” he said quietly. “You said you play and I thought that if you play half as well as you do piano and guitar then it could be helpful when we record.”

“Mate you are some kind of mental…”

Harry bit his lip as he saw Louis nearly gaping at the brand new drum set before he took a seat at it. And just from his reaction Harry knew it was more than a smart purchase.

“Shit just… Thank you Harry, really. This is incredible,” Louis said quietly, shaking his head, still not believing it.

Harry nodded and offered him a small smile before setting himself up at his microphone with one of his electric guitars. “Alright, so this one I pretty much have done. Lyrics and the guitar part are all set, but I just need drums, bass and maybe piano.”

“And that’s where I come in,” Louis said through a quiet laugh as he twirled one of the drumsticks between his fingers. “So you just run it through, I’ll listen to it, come up with some stuff and then we’ll play it back but I’ll play with you and tell me if you like it or not.”

Harry raised his eyebrows at that, Louis almost sounding like he’s done this before. He nodded at the older lad though before situating himself and his guitar, and began singing what he had written down on his sheet.

This had been one of his favorite songs that he’s written so far. It just had more meaning to him than any of the others, but it was the first time he was playing it for someone so that was a bit nerve wracking.

Louis listened intently though, as if making mental notes of what he wanted to play and how he wanted to play it.

So when Harry finished Louis was already sitting up and ready to play whatever he had come up with.

“That was really good by the way. Did you uh, write that for someone?”

Harry looked up from his guitar and nodded as he met the older lad’s eyes. “I wrote it for my sister,” he said quietly through a small smile.

Louis picked his head up and grinned even more as he heard that and continued to smile to himself as he looked back down to the drum set. So Harry took that as his cue to start [playing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZBJD8zYOo).

His fingers moved along the fretboard for the opening notes and kept the same rhythm and notes going as he opened his mouth to sing, but a few words in and he heard Louis play. The smooth ‘tap’ ‘tap’ of the drumstick hitting the rim of the snare drum and high hat, it adding a bit more life to song. And as Harry continued to play and sing he couldn’t help but fall in love with it immediately.

It fit the song so well and Louis played it so effortlessly, like he had done this a million times before. He watched as the older lad closed his eyes, not even needing to see where he had to hit, but just did it. And as he got further into the song Louis added more. More bass drum, more snare, more tambourine and all together it sounded better than Harry ever thought it could. And when the chorus came Harry had to perk his head up from where he was looking at his guitar and just watch Louis.

Watch as the older lad got louder and was nearly flinging his arms to hit what he needed to. His biceps flexing with each movement, his feet tapping with the high hat and bass drum, and his wrists moving quickly to get the rhythm he wanted. And just at looking at Louis, watching him play, Harry felt himself pick up, felt himself more engaged in the song, getting more into it and wanting to play more.

Harry poured more of himself into the song, gave all he had into the microphone and when he looked up to watch Louis again, he caught the older lad’s blue eyes already staring back at him. But Louis didn’t look away, instead he leaned into the microphone that was set up by the drums and added in to what Harry was singing after the chorus, and if possible made it sound even better with the harmony.

The two watched each other, Louis nodding his head as the song picked up and making his infectious smile reach Harry.

Harry locked his eyes on Louis, watched his arms flex and his entire upper body move as he played, getting more and more into the song, but they never broke eye contact. He figured he must’ve looked like an idiot singing into the microphone and smiling like mad to himself, but it’s not like Louis wasn’t doing the same thing as he played and backed up Harry’s vocals.

And at the end of the song it was just Harry’s guitar, the gentle lull of it that opened the song also closed it.

The only thing heard in the room after Harry finished playing was Louis’ heavy breathing, but Harry was too struck to even know what to say.

“So if you didn’t like that I was also thinking-”

“What?!” Harry asked wide eyed. “That was perfect, are you kidding me?! How did you- I mean where did that come from?!”

Louis blushed and laughed sheepishly to himself as he shrugged. “I just really like the drums,” he said quietly. “My favorite instrument if I’m being honest.”

Harry felt his jaw go slack as he looked to the older lad. There was no way he came up with that right on the spot. They rhythms, the vocals, there was no way.

“I have a bass part that I think will work really well with it if you’d like to hear that too,” Louis said, already standing up to grab the bass.

Harry didn’t stop him. Instead he watched as Louis picked up his bass and throw the strap over his shoulder before plugging it into an amp and plucking away.

*~*

“Tell me you got something done today?”

Harry popped his head out of the kitchen as he heard Niall come into his flat, and Louis was right behind him to investigate who was at the door.

“We finished and recorded three of the five songs I wrote,” Harry said proudly through a wide smile, Louis behind him nodding along.

At that Niall raised his eyebrows, not believing it. “You… You recorded three songs today?”

“Wanna take a listen?”

Niall opened and closed his mouth before nodding and seeing himself to the studio, needing to make sure that Harry wasn’t lying to him. “What’re the names of them?” he called out from down the hall.

“Uh we did[ Nothing More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIuy1a9IdHk), Hold Back the River, and [Best Fake Smile](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4NpXfRCgGY),” Harry yelled back.

“What’s this other one on here then?”

“Oh, Louis wrote that one, he said I could put it on the album so we recorded that too.”

Harry stood there for a second, waiting for a response from the Irish lad, but after a moment of silence he figured Niall was listening to the songs.

“I hope he likes them,” Louis said as he bit his lip and walked back into the kitchen. “I mean what if he doesn’t? Do we start over?”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he watched Louis take his place back on top the counter and gently swing his legs back and forth. “No way. I love them, you love them, no matter what he says we’re not changing anything,” he said, moving in front of the stove and stirring the sauce that was simmering.

Louis tried to bite back a smile at hearing that and ducked his head as he nodded to himself. “What you wrote by the way, all those songs… They’re all so lovely,” he said, and when Harry looked at him with raised eyebrows he stuttered to himself. “I mean like- like you just want the world to be a better place, you want everyone to just love each other and treat each other the same, and that’s… It’s just really sweet.”

Harry couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face before he started to laugh to himself and shake his head.

“Shut up, I’m trying to compliment you,” Louis muttered through a small pout. “Just say thank you.”

“Thank you Louis,” Harry said, still laughing to himself as he checked what was cooking on the stove. But he couldn’t miss the not so subtle eye roll and flick on the ear from the older lad. “Get away from me,” he said, swatting Louis’ hand away playfully, “and try this, tell me if it needs anything.”

Louis hummed happily to himself, more than willing to try whatever it was Harry made. But when the curly haired lad moved himself so he was resting in between Louis’ thighs and offered him a wooden spoon with sauce on it the older lad froze for a moment.

Harry raised his eyebrows as he settled himself between Louis’ legs and rested his free hand next to the blue eyed boy’s hip before motioning for him to try what was on the spoon.

And Louis looked at him for a moment, just sat there completely still before slowly opening his mouth and tasting whatever it was Harry was offering him.

“So? Need anything?” he asked quietly, leaning into the older lad and feeling his shorts just barely ride up where it came in contact with Louis’ leg.

Louis shook his head, still keeping his eyes locked on Harry, and Harry kept thinking how easy it would be to just lean in right now. How easy it would be to move his hand to Louis’ hip and tip his head up so he could feel what he assumed were soft and thin lips against his own. But this was a job, and he’s known Louis for two days. No matter how badly he wanted to, he couldn’t.

“Guys that was so- Oh! Oh, uh sorry…”

Harry jumped back from where he was standing between Louis’ legs, both of them looking like a deer caught in headlights. He immediately felt his cheeks heating up and when he tried to steal a glance at Louis he saw the older lad in the same state.

“I was just going to say that so far they sound amazing,” Niall said quietly, feeling like he was interrupting something. “Really, really good job guys. The piano, the drums, Louis your back up vocals, all of it. It has a really good vibe so far.”

Louis nodded and swallowed thickly before looking to Niall, “Uhm, yeah, thank you,” he said softly.

“Did you play everything?” Niall asked as he walked over to the stove and stole a couple noodles that were in the pot. “When I was looking for someone to help Harry you came recommended by so many people, mostly music teachers. They all said you’re amazing, and even H said you’re like a God when it comes to music.”

“Yeah, I played everything, Harry did guitar and singing of course,” Louis said through a small blush as he stole a glance at the curly haired lad.

“Great, great,” Niall said happily. “Well I’m very proud of you boys for not flirting all day and instead actually got a lot done, so kudos to you,” he teased, making both of the boys turn to each other, only to quickly look away and if possible become even a darker shade of red. “But Harry I know you have two more songs you wrote and saw one that was like half done on your computer, when are we finishing those?”

“We’re finishing those after dinner,” Harry said, already getting three bowls down from the cabinet. “Louis did the piano part but towards the end of one of the songs we really wanted a big bang so he’s gonna do a huge drum part and then both of us singing, we have to record that.”

“And my mates are coming over for the other song,” Louis added in, accepting the bowl of pasta Harry was passing him. “They’re bringing my cello, and my mate Liam plays violin, and my other mate Zayn does drums too. For the last song Harry and I thought of something a bit more orchestral.”

Niall looked at the boy in front of him and couldn’t help but cup his face between his hands and give him a sloppy kiss right on his cheek. “You my boy… Oh we’ll be keeping you around for a while,” he said, kissing a startled Louis’ cheek one more time.

“Hey! Hey, off,” Harry said as he pulled his best mate away from Louis. “We get it, back up,” he muttered before nearly shoving a bowl at Niall’s chest.

“Jealous much?” Niall muttered, just loud enough for Harry to hear. And when he did Niall had to quickly scurry away from the younger lad to avoid getting hit.

And when Niall was out of his kitchen Harry looked up to see Louis trying to hide his smile by eating his food, but even with his mouth full his grin reached his eyes.

“Hurry up and eat! I want to hear that drum part you have to record!”

Harry rolled his eyes as he heard Niall screaming from the living room and walked over to the counter to take a seat next to Louis. Who needed tables and chairs anyway? The counter was a perfectly good place to eat.

“Who knew you could cook?” Louis said, it coming out muffled as he shoved more pasta in his mouth.

“I’m a man of many secret talents,” Harry said, making Louis snort and shake his head. “But this is nothing. You should see me when I go all out for dinner.”

“I should.”

At that Harry smiled to himself and gently nudged Louis in his side. “You inviting yourself over for a nice dinner?”

“Sounded like that’s what you wanted from the beginning,” Louis teased, sending Harry a small smirk.

And just before Harry was about to retort back Niall interrupted them.

“I can hear you flirting from here! Just shut up and eat, and then afterwards you can plan your date!!”

And that did it. It was that that made Harry blush like he never had before and quickly try to hide his face from a laughing Louis.

“C’mon popstar, we better get recording,” Louis said, hopping off the counter and placing his empty bowl in the sink.

Harry followed Louis’ action and took the last couple bites of his food before placing it in the sink and calling Niall to follow them into the studio.

“So we already have everything except the drums and Louis is gonna help me with the harmonies,” Harry said as they walked into the studio and he got a microphone ready for Louis by the drums and then one for himself.

“Alright, I’m gonna be sitting at the computer and record, put your headphones on and I’ll play it back,” Niall said with his mouth full before heading into the sound booth.

“He really is quite the character,” Louis laughed to himself as he shook his head and picked up his head phones.

Harry hummed his agreement, placing his own headphones on. “You have no idea,” he muttered.

“Okay boys, this is [Turn to Stone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVd3TvkWESg),” Niall said into his microphone from the booth, making it come through in their headphones.

And it wasn’t even a second later they heard the piano part Louis recorded earlier, and the harmonizing voices they had also done. But now Harry was actually singing along with the song, recording the lyrics.

He could feel Louis watching him as he sang into the microphone, just like he had earlier when they recorded the other songs. And just like the other times Harry felt himself become nervous, but with just a quick glance to the older lad, and seeing him already smiling at him, it melted Harry’s nerves away.

But when they got to the loud part of the song Harry kept his eyes on Louis. He wanted to see what he had come up with for this, and when Louis said he was going to make it big he wasn’t kidding.

It felt like within a millisecond his headphones were quiet to then ringing with drums, completely taking over and making the song burst with newfound energy.

Louis' arms were going everywhere, his brow furrowed in concentration, not only as he played but also sang into his microphone, each note better than the last. And Harry was almost too consumed in watching him to remember to come back in and finish the song out. But when it was over he saw Louis smiling wildly to himself, and a moment later Niall burst through the door.

“Holy mother of God, what are you?!” he nearly screamed. “Where the hell did that come from?! You just- you just- and it was like bam! Boom! In your face!!”

Louis let out a loud laugh, twirling the drumstick between his fingers as he shrugged. “Harry wanted it big, I made it big,” he said simply.

“I’m keeping him,” Niall stated. “H you can’t have him, he’s mine.”

“Niall for God’s sake,” Harry muttered, rubbing a hand over his face.

“When are your mates coming?” Niall asked, ignoring the curly haired lad. “If they’re half as good as you and you’re all playing together… Just shit, this is gonna be one hell of an album.”

“They should be here any minute,” Louis said, still laughing to himself. “And trust me, Zayn is the one who taught me to play drums and Liam is currently in the London Philharmonic, so they’re plenty good.”

Niall’s jaw dropped as he heard that, and he wondered where this guy has been his entire life. “I might just kiss you again.”

“Don’t,” Harry said firmly, eyeing the Irish lad.

“Calm down curly, I get it, you want him-”

“Niall!” Harry hissed.

Niall rolled his eyes and told the two he was going to wait for Louis’ mates in the living room before leaving them. And when Harry very carefully stole a glance at Louis to see if he was uncomfortable or just completely mortified he was pleasantly surprised to see the older lad blushing a bit before sending him a small wink and turning back to the drum set.

“I really am sorry about him,” Harry said quietly. “Half the stuff he says is complete shit and-”

“Oh so you don’t want me?” Louis asked with raised eyebrows.

Harry felt himself freeze before opening his mouth to say something, just anything, but before he could even utter a word Louis let out a loud laugh and shook his head.

“I’m kidding mate, geez,” he said, having to hide his face in his hands from laughing so hard at Harry’s face.

Harry cleared his throat and let out a few half hearted laughs himself, trying to play it off as a joke. “Right, right, kidding, yeah.”

And thankfully it was only a moment later someone came into the room to take away the attention of Harry’s embarrassment.

“Loueh!!”

Harry watched as Louis snapped his head up and smiled widely to himself before lunging off his seat and into this tan, dark haired man’s arms.

“Whoa! Careful mate, don’t crush the cargo!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Louis said through a quiet laugh before taking his cello from his mate’s hand. “Zayn this is Harry, Harry this is Zayn,” he introduced.

“Wow the famous Harry,” Zayn said as he offered the younger lad his hand. “And not just world famous, but Louis famous. You should hear him mate. I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much about one popstar in two days- ow!!”

Harry felt his cheeks flush as he shook Zayn’s hand before he let out a quiet laugh at Louis knocking his mate over his head with his cello bow.

“Louis c’mon, whenever you do that we have to get new strings for the bow, knock it off.”

Harry watched as another man came into the studio, this one being a bit broader and more puppy looking than Zayn. He figured this was Liam since he was carrying a violin case.

“Hey, it’s a real honor to meet you, I’m Liam,” he said sticking his hand out.

“It’s great to meet you too,” Harry said as he shook his hand and offered Liam a small smile. “I’ve never met someone in the London Philharmonic, I can’t wait to hear you play.”

“Oh, but you’ve heard Louis play, haven’t you?” Liam asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Harry only grew slightly confused at that. “You’re in the Philharmonic?”

He saw Louis freeze and look between him and Liam before opening and closing his mouth, not sure what to say.

“He got accepted into it,” Liam filled in for him. “But he decided not to take it, said it wasn’t his thing,” he said, rolling his eyes before placing his case down and getting his violin out.

And again Harry only wondered how many things Louis wasn’t telling him. At first it was that he’s never written for anyone before, but now it was that he was accepted into the Philharmonic and didn’t take it.

Harry wasn’t mad, if anything he was more than impressed with the older lad, and if possible more intrigued with him than before.

“Louis’ too good for all those Mozart playing dweebs,” Zayn said as he shook his head and took a seat at the drums, making himself comfortable.

“Thanks Zayn,” Liam muttered over Louis’ laughter.

“Alright, alright, c’mon this is a job, behave,” Louis said, smacking the back of Zayn’s head gently before getting a chair for himself and setting his cello up.

Harry watched the three of them interact and it was like watching a bunch of school children on the playground. He only wondered what would happen if he added Niall to the mix, but thankfully the Irish lad was in the booth to record.

“Uhm so do you guys need music or anything? I didn’t even think about getting that set up for you,” Harry said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck.

“We’re good, Louis already told us what we’re doing,” Liam said, sending a small smile over to Harry as he played a few strings of his violin, making sure it was tuned.

Harry raised his eyebrows at that and looked over to Louis, only to see him smiling to himself as he quietly tuned his cello. So he didn’t say anything about it. Instead he grabbed his electric guitar, plugged it in and made sure the other boys were set with microphones before they all put their headphones on.

Louis had already recorded the piano part of course and so when Niall began to play it back the first thing they all heard was the start of the[ piano](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIFhst3DwPE) and the gentle roll of Zayn hitting the symbol.

And almost as if it was routine by now Harry caught Louis’ eye, and as he sang and began to strum his guitar he saw Louis grinning back at him right before he came in.

Harry watched, always so amazed how everything came so easily to Louis. The smooth flick of his wrist as he moved his bow, his fingers along the neck of the instrument spread out but right where they needed to be to create the beautiful sound.

And before Harry knew it they were already at the chorus, his strumming faster, Zayn's drumming more intense and Louis and Liam’s playing quick and methodic.

These boys knew what they were doing. Much like Louis it was as if this wasn’t even a problem for them, like they had already played this song a thousand times.

They swayed with the music and when it came to the bridge, everyone was more than focused on what they were doing.

Harry concentrating on his fret board, where his fingers should go and what strings to strum while Louis was nearly jumping in his seat with enthusiasm, Zayn and Liam the same way as they all smiled to each other, seeming like they were having the best time of their lives.

And when it was over and Niall said from the booth that he stopped recording they all let out deep breaths.

“Holy shit that felt awesome,” Zayn said, unable to wipe the smile off his face. “Of course it’s your song though, like was it okay? Did you like it?”

Harry looked to Zayn and then saw not only him but also Liam and Louis looking for his approval as well. “Mate I fucking loved it.”

If possible Zayn’s smile only grew as he turned to Liam and high fived him, making Harry laugh to himself.

He saw Louis grinning to himself as well as he placed his cello down and got up from his seat to walk over to him.

“You’ve outdone yourself yet again,” Harry said once Louis was close enough.

Louis shrugged to himself and was about to say something before a pair of arms wrapped around the two of them, making their chests press together.

“I love you! I love you both so fucking much!!” Niall yelled as he hugged the pair. “And you!” he said, letting go of Louis and Harry before turning to Liam and Zayn. “You’re both beautiful, beautiful creatures that I never want to let go,” Niall said, wrapping them both in a hug and kissing their cheeks.

Louis and Harry laughed to themselves as they watched Liam and Zayn hug Niall back happily. But that was when Harry realized how close they were from Niall nearly shoving them together.

“So he’s a pile of love and mush when he’s not stressed,” Louis noted as he watched his best mates and Niall, showing no sign of creating more distance between him and Harry.

“Basically,” Harry said through an airy laugh, not taking his eyes off Louis.

“We did good today, yeah?” Louis asked as he grinned softly up at the younger lad. “Kept the flirting to a minimum and got some work done?”

Harry felt himself freeze as he heard Louis joking but he was sure with the hot blush rising on his cheeks he would melt into a puddle in a second.

“Oi lovebirds break it up,” and of course Niall just had to ruin it. “I swear, they’ve been like this since I came over. God only knows how they actually got work done. I mean I don’t even want to know what goes on when I’m not here.”

Harry was going to kill him. It was official. Niall James Horan would be found dead in the morning.

“Easy there popstar,” Louis said as he chuckled to himself, seeing the way Harry was glaring at Niall. “It’s fine,” he quietly said, gently bringing up his hand to rub the green eyed lad’s arm. “The boys and I best be off anyway. I’m sure Niall wants to talk to you about business stuff.”

Harry looked down at Louis, really not wanting him to leave, but it was getting late.

He offered the older lad a tight lined smile before nodding at him and helping Louis pack his cello and whatever else he brought with him. But Louis instead chose to leave his cello in case they wanted to use it for another song and Harry wasn’t going to object.

Harry walked the boys to the door except for Niall who said he was staying so they could talk, and Harry already had an idea about what.

He thanked Zayn and Liam for coming over, and said that he would love to hang out again, maybe not do something work related and the two were quick to agree before waving at him one more time and heading down the hall to the lift.

“So I’ll uhm, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Louis asked quietly as he stopped at the door and turned to look at Harry.

“Tomorrow,” Harry agreed with a single nod before smiling down at the older lad.

Louis nodded back at him and adjusted the backpack strap over his tank top before biting his lip and shifting his weight on his feet, almost like he was thinking about something, waiting for something.

Harry wasn’t sure that made him do it, but before he could stop himself he wrapped his arms around Louis’ neck and pulled him into his chest. And thankfully it was only a second later the older lad brought his own arms up and wrapped them around Harry’s middle, making a relieved breath escape the younger lad.

Harry had never been so content, so happy to just be in someone’s arms before and if possible those feelings only escalated when he felt Louis smiling against his shoulder.

“Bye popstar,” he barely said as he pulled away with a small wink.

Harry found himself trying to bite back his own grin as he watched Louis back away from him and down the hall, still wearing that shit eating grin. “Bye Louis.”

He watched the older lad until he was fully down the hall, and it was only when he was in the lift did he turn back inside his own flat, only to see a little Irish man smirking at him.

“What?” he asked nonchalantly.

“You like him. You actually have a crush on the songwriter.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Harry please, I’ve known you since we were 15, I know when you like someone,” Niall said, following the younger lad into the kitchen. There was no way he was going to escape this conversation.

“Niall I don’t like him.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, love then. My mistake,” he teased, making Harry roll his eyes as he began loading up the dishwasher.

“I don’t like or love him. Drop it.”

“Mate you had heart eyes all night. You were watching him with your creeper stare, and blushing every second he came within a foot of you.”

“I was only blushing because you were spewing ridiculous shit like usual.”

“H c’mon, it’s not a bad thing if you like him. He’s cute. I mean hell if I were gay I’d go for him too.”

Harry rolled his eyes as he rinsed the dishes in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher, just wanting to finish this and go to bed. “Weren’t you the one to say this was a job?”

“Yeah, but that was only because you weren’t getting shit done. But if you like him that's good, great even.”

Harry stopped what he was doing and leaned against the counter, knowing there was no way he could get this past Niall.

He already told Gemma anyway. He called his sister the first day Louis was over and as soon as the older lad left his flat he ran for his phone. Harry told her about the songwriter with baby blue eyes that had more talent than he's ever seen. Told her about his way with words, and how he was kind of quiet but had a joking and teasing side to him. And most importantly Harry talked about Louis' looks. He was sure an hour into it Gemma was ready to kill him, but she lives two hours up north, there's nothing she could actually do to him, so Harry kept talking until Gemma hung up. And even then Harry couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

“Alright, so maybe I like him,” he barely whispered.

“What? You don’t say?” Niall teased. “I mean, wow H, you really had me fooled.”

“You’re an arse,” Harry said through a quiet laugh.

“You love me though,” Niall muttered as he poked the younger lad’s dimple. “So why him? What makes him special other than those baby blue eyes you can oh so easily get lost in?”

Harry had to muffle a laugh into his hand as he shook his head at his best mate. This was why he loved Niall. Yeah, sometimes work became too much, but it was these moments Harry loved.

“I dunno he’s just… He’s sweet, and funny, and he kind of like- well he teases me and I tease back and I dunno, it’s fun,” he said, already feeling a small blush creep onto his cheeks, just thinking about the older lad. “At times he’s kinda quiet, but I feel like what he does with music, it’s through that he talks,” Harry said softly. “Also he’s really fucking hot, can’t forget about that one.”

Niall let out a loud laugh at that one, nodding his agreement.

Harry laughed quietly to himself, biting his lip, as he knew what he really liked about Louis. “But I think the main reason I like him is because he treats me normal… I’m not the famous Harry Styles... Just Harry.”

Niall smiled softly at his best mate before rubbing his back, knowing it was hard for the younger lad to find people who treat him like an actual person and not just some popstar.

“But I just… Niall what do I do?” Harry groaned into his hands.

“Mate, I only have one piece of advice for you,” he said, grabbing the younger lad’s attention. “Get it in.”


	2. Chapter 2

“What inspires you?”

“Spiderman.”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he looked up from his place on the floor, only to see Louis’ face pressed into the couch cushion where he was laying. “Seriously Lou.”

“I am being serious,” Louis mumbled into the couch.

Harry groaned as he threw himself backwards, his head hitting the soft carpet under him.

It’s been a week since they last recorded anything and that was when Liam and Zayn were over. They didn’t even have an idea of what to write about and that was really the stem of their problems. Not only were they tired and grumpy but Harry’s flat was a mess.

There were papers laying everywhere, take out containers all over the table, counters and coffee table, and Harry was sure there were at least three pens somewhere stuck in his hair.

Granted on some days for the past week they weren’t necessarily work oriented and they only had themselves to blame. Well themselves and the water and nerf guns Louis brought over on Wednesday.

But every time Harry tried to get inspired, tried to think of something he would want to write about Louis would always grab his attention, no matter what.

They could be walking in the park, talking about nonsense, and Harry would want to go out and maybe see something, or someone, but his focus always oriented back to Louis.

He would listen to the older lad talk about his studies at Oxford, how everyone there thought they were better than the person next to them. How he laid below the radar and spent all of his time in music rooms, picking up any instrument he could get his hands on.

He talked about how he met Liam when they were just little kids and became friends at music camp. And that when they were accepted into the same university the pair celebrated by going out and getting drunk until they couldn’t tell a person from a pole.

Louis explained how he met Zayn at Oxford as well. He and Liam were going to pull a prank and put coffee beans in the bass drum of one of the drumsets so whenever someone hit it it would rattle. But when they walked into the music room they saw someone they’ve never met before playing the instrument. He wasn’t even a music student, instead he was studying English but he played better than anyone Louis or Liam had ever heard before.

And of course the older lad talked his ear off about other things as well, like how he got into music at the young age of 4, and why he did't want to play for the Philharmonic and instead become a songwriter, and that was how Harry learned that Louis never shuts up. He talks and talks and talks until he’s out of breath, but then will continue talking once he’s regained himself. And the funny thing was that Harry didn’t mind, not in the slightest.

He loved listening to Louis’ stories, loved hearing all of the pranks he, Liam and Zayn pulled on the other music kids, or just fun nights out with his mates.

Harry talked about himself as well though, only if Louis asked him a question. He would much rather listen to everything the older lad had to say. But he told Louis about his family, how when he was 8 his parents passed away in a car crash and it was really just him and Gemma growing up. They had their grandmother but at one point it wasn't her taking care of them but them taking care of her.

He told the older lad how he played guitar and sang on street corners for money and that and some other small gigs he did was enough to scrape by until one day Niall got someone to look at him and that's how he ended up with the record company he signed with. He talked about the irish lad, how when they were younger Niall was always the life of the party, able to walk into a room and perk everyone up, but lately it's been nothing but business and work for him.

And Louis listened to everything he had to say. Every bad joke and stupid story the older lad couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face. And before he knew it Harry was falling really fucking hard for Louis Tomlinson.

He fell for the way the older lad looked at him. His smile reaching his eyes and his infectious laugh that made Harry feel like he was about to bust a gut. The way he would subtly touch him if he wanted to point something out, or if they were just sitting close together. His fingers wrapped around Harry’s bicep or hand resting on his thigh, and in those nerve wracking moments Harry wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

So he didn’t do anything, he just let Louis keep his hand there, and he would be lying if he said that when the older lad pulled away he didn't miss his touch.

“Shit,” Harry muttered, rubbing his hands over his face.

“What?”

Harry looked to Louis and saw the older lad just barely pick his head off the couch, his hair all tousled and his eyes tired. “I may have an idea for a song,” he said quietly.

At that Louis shot up, showing more energy than he has all day. “Well c’mon, let’s hear it!”

“Well I… I can’t tell you it.”

“And why not?”

Harry bit his lip, knowing exactly why he couldn’t. “I just… Can’t.”

Louis narrowed his eyes at Harry before pushing himself off the couch and walking towards the younger lad.

Harry watched him confused, but it was only a second later Louis dropped his body on top of Harry’s.

“Louis!” Harry shrieked as his upper body was thrown against the floor, the older lad putting his entire body weight on him.

“Tell me!!” Louis mumble into Harry’s shoulder, refusing to move.

“No,” Harry quietly laughed, poking Louis’ side, making him giggle and push his hand away.

“I won’t get off until you tell me. Trust me after a while you’ll start to feel the weight of the arse,” Louis warned.

“Louis,” Harry whined, poking his side again.

“Stop!!” Louis yelped as he grabbed Harry’s hand, making sure he couldn’t poke him anymore. “No more from you,” he said sternly, pointing an angry finger in the younger lad’s face. “Just tell me the idea for the song. Please? Pretty pretty please? I’ll do anything! Please? Harreh, please please please-”

“Shut up!!” Harry said, placing his hand over Louis' mouth just to get a break from him talking.

But as the older lad smirked at him Harry felt Louis lick his palm, making him pull it away and wipe his spit covered hand on Louis’ face.

“You’re disgusting,” Harry groaned as the blue eyed boy laughed against his chest. “And fat, my God, get off me.”

“You’re being quite rude today, you know that?” Louis asked with raised eyebrows as he rested his chin on Harry’s chest, still refusing to get off him.

Harry let out a small breath and closed his eyes, knowing he wasn’t being the nicest. Louis was on top of him after all, how was he supposed to react rationally? And then of course the older lad had to make it worse by gently brushing his fingers through his hair.

“Why won’t you tell me?” he asked quietly.

“I-”

“Louis!!”

Harry snapped his head up as he heard someone crash into his flat, only to hit Louis’ head with his own. “Fuck,” he groaned, rubbing his forehead, and seeing Louis do the same. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“S’fine,” Louis muttered through a quiet laugh.

“Oh whoops, uhm, uh sorry guys,” Zayn said as he saw his best mate laying on the curly haired lad. “Were you guys just-”

“What do you want Zayn?” Louis asked as he rolled off Harry and laid next to him.

“Oh right,” Zayn said, remembering he came here for a reason. “Mate underground is tonight, we have to go!” he rushed out.

Harry sat up and looked between the two confused before Louis’ eyes went wide.

“Fuck I completely forgot that I got the text this morning,” he groaned to himself as he checked the time and then groaned again.

“What’s underground?”  Harry asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“Basically twice a month on random dates the best string players get together, mostly the younger people from the Philharmonic but also people we just went to school with, and it’s kinda stupid but we all like battle each other and see who can play best,” Zayn said through a sheepish smile. “We do it in a bar called Underground and it’s totally secretive, like you have to be invited into it and everything.”

“Wow…” Harry said, that actually sounding pretty cool. “So who’s the best as of right now?”

Zayn laughed to himself and nodded towards Harry’s direction, and as Harry looked down next to him Louis was still laying on the floor but with his hand raised in the air.

“...You’re kidding me?” he asked, not believing that Louis beat out the best in the Philharmonic.

“Don’t sound so surprised Harry,” Louis chuckled as he pushed himself off the floor. “But I have to go, it starts in like a half hour,” he said quietly.

“Oh, yeah, of course, go ahead.”

“Well you can uhm, you can come if you want,” Louis said softly as he bit his lip.

“I can?”

“He can?”

Louis rolled his eyes as he jabbed Zayn in his side and nodded at the younger lad. “Yeah, c’mon,” he said, offering Harry a small smile and a hand to help him off the floor.

Harry took Louis’ offered hand, still not sure if he should go. “I don’t want to intrude or anything.”

“Nonsense! Come on, it’ll be fun!” Louis said through a wide smile.

“Yeah, uhm sure, I guess,” Harry said sheepishly. “I’m just gonna put a different t-shirt on, I’ll be quick.”

Louis and Zayn nodded at him, and Harry offered them both a tight lined smile before rushing off towards his room to change his three day old outfit and figure out what to wear to Underground.

*~*

Harry gripped the railing of the steep steps, trying his hardest not to fall as he walked further down. This place really was under the ground and extremely well hidden. Harry was sure that if someone hadn’t pointed it out to him that he never would’ve found it.

“You good H?” Louis asked once he made it to the bottom, offering his hand to the younger lad, knowing how narrow the staircase was.

Harry took Louis’ offered hand, knowing that he would probably trip over himself if he didn’t.

When he made it inside the bar he saw it was completely made of brick and a bit dark inside. There were wooden tables and a matching wooden bar, the place full of people around their age with violins, violas, cellos, and even a few basses. The larger instruments were laid on a small stage in the front of the bar and they were next to what looked like a DJ set up. And Harry had never seen anything like it .

“Oh thank God!!”

The three men snapped their heads up, only to see a relieved looking Liam rushing over to them with his violin.

“I thought you weren’t gonna make it. Fucking Mclane has been talking shit ever since I got here,” Liam said, passing Louis his violin case.

“I swear to God I’m going to kill that guy,” Louis muttered as he took his instrument out and made sure it was tuned.

“Harry,” Liam said, not even noticing the curly haired lad that had come down with Louis and Zayn. “Did they tell you about this?”

“Uhm yeah…” Harry scratched the back of his neck. “Is that okay? I mean I can leave if-”

“Harry stop, you’re staying,” Louis said, shaking his head and playing a few notes on his violin.

“Tomlinson!! Glad you could make it.”

“Get away from me Mclane,” Louis said in a monotone voice as he kept his eyes on his violin.

“And look at this, you brought a popstar with you.”

At that Louis snapped his head up and narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him. “Is there something you needed?” he asked, moving himself in front of Harry.

“Just checking to see how you’re doing, and if you’re ready to get your arse kicked.”

Liam and Zayn let out loud laughs as Louis scoffed to himself. “Mate I’ve been beating you for over two years, give it a rest.”

Harry had to slap a hand over his mouth to try and quiet a laugh as he heard that. This guy came off as a total dickhead saying this stuff and yet he’s been losing for two years.

“You have something to say popstar? Think you’re better than the rest of us?” he asked, moving closer to Harry.

Harry opened his mouth but before he could even say anything Louis moved closer to him.

“Louis c’mon, he’s not worth your time,” Liam muttered as he tugged on his best mate’s arm.

Louis looked between Liam and the man in front of him before pulling out of his mate’s grasp and wrapping an arm around Harry to start walking them away. “Don’t fucking come near him.”

Harry didn’t say or do anything besides follow where Louis was leading him with Liam and Zayn trailing right behind them. And it was only when they were situated at the bar did someone speak up.

“He’s such a prick,” Zayn said through a quiet laugh as he got the bartender’s attention and ordered four beers. “Like seriously every time we have these things he’s always like this.”

“You okay?”

Harry looked down at Louis with furrowed eyebrows and noticed he still hadn’t moved his hand from his hip. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I dunno, he was just being a dick to you,” he said quietly.

Harry chuckled to himself and shook his head as he accepted the beer Zayn was passing him. “Trust me, I’ve had worse things said to me. I’m fine, really.”

Louis kept his eyes locked on Harry, as if trying to figure out if he was lying or not, and he must’ve decided that the younger lad wasn’t because he dropped his hand from his hip and nodded at him before grabbing one of the beers on the bar.

“Tommo you’re up last, you all set?” Liam asked before taking a swig of his own drink.

“I guess, I’m just gonna wing it like normal,” Louis shrugged to himself and began chugging half his beer. “You lads gonna look after my boy while I’m up there?”

Harry bit his lip and felt his face heat up a bit as Louis referred to him as his boy and rubbed his back gently, but was even happier when Zayn said “yeah I got’em” before winking at him.

And it was only a minute later someone walked up to the microphone on the stage and got everyone’s attention.

The four boys claimed a table in the middle of the room, Louis and Liam putting their violins in their cases by their feet until they were called up.

Introductions were given and Harry figured this was the same speech that was given every time they had one of these as everyone in the room wasn’t even paying attention to the man on stage until he announced who was going up first.

Harry watched as two cellists made their way to the stage, the room clapping and some people cheering from the back, and he couldn’t get over how crazy this all was. That these people from the London Philharmonic and top string players in the city came down to this secretive bar just to battle each other.

“C’mon Tommy, kick his arse!!” Louis yelled through a wide smile as he saw the two set up on stage.

“I dunno mate, Olly’s been getting pretty good. Almost got a standing ovation last time.”

Louis rolled his eyes at Liam before taking a swig of his beer and reaching for Harry’s chair next to him and loosely hanging his arm off the back of it.

Harry looked between Louis and Liam and couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. He noticed their relationship was a lot of teasing and kind of goofing off together, and it was always a bit entertaining to just watch them interact.

“How do you know who wins?” he asked, leaning over to Louis so the older lad could hear him.

“Most claps basically,” Louis said as he shrugged to himself. “Or who has the most people standing for them, it’s pretty simple and usually there’s a clear winner.”

Harry nodded to himself and looked at Louis for a moment, noticing he was completely focusing on the players on the stage. He had to admit the first cellist who was playing was good. But there was nothing extraordinary about it, almost like it was a slow ballad he memorized but didn’t add anything to it.

“Zayn do you play?” Harry asked, knowing that the older lad didn’t even study music.

“Nah, I just come and watch. I’ve known these guys since Uni and they know I play drums so they tolerate me,” he said through a quiet laugh before looking back to the stage.

Harry smiled at him before he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, only to see Louis’ arm wrapped around the back of his chair. He turned to the older lad and saw Louis mouth “you need to listen” before grinning back at him and nodding towards the stage.

“Sorry,” Harry whispered back sheepishly before turning to face the two cellists, the second guy now playing. But he couldn’t miss how Louis kept his hand on him. How their chairs became close together and the older lad was able to wrap his arm around his shoulders completely, nearly pulling him into his side.

And Harry is truly sorry for not listening to the performers, one after the other coming up and playing. And he was sure they were all lovely and great but he was too focused on Louis.

The older lad smiling happily to himself and cheering for his favorites. He would clap, whistle and yell before wrapping his arm back around Harry’s shoulders and taking a sip of his beer.

And that was another thing Harry noticed about the blue eyed lad. Louis had become completely comfortable with him over the past week.

When they first met he was a bit quiet, and kind of shy. But now it was like he was a whole other person. This Louis was loud and confident and had Harry rolling on the floor with laughter whenever he spoke up. And if possible Harry liked Louis more than he had when they first met.

“H? You off in space or something?”

Harry looked up and saw Louis laughing at him before picking up his beer. “Sorry, no I was just thinking,” he said through a small blush.

“About?” Louis asked with raised eyebrows.

Harry opened his mouth, trying to come up with an excuse before he heard Liam’s name getting called to go up on stage. “Oh, good luck Liam!” he yelled after the older lad, earning a wide grin back from him.

And when Harry chanced a glance over at Louis he saw the older lad laughing and shaking his head at him. At least he was able to get away without answering.

“C’mon Harry, is this about the song you refuse to tell me about?”

At least he thought he got away with it. “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Harry said, watching Liam set up on stage with some guy who seemed far too proper to be in a place called Underground.

“Why won’t you-”

“Excuse me Louis, I’m trying to listen,” Harry said as he bit his lip, trying to hold back a smile at feeling Louis squeezing his shoulder again.

He saw Louis send him a playful pointed look before shaking his head again and turning to look at the stage to watch Liam.

Harry allowed a small grin to spread across his lips though as he watched Liam start and just barely felt Louis’ fingers ghosting over his bicep. He could tell the older lad was hesitant at first, just barely tracing lines over his skin before Harry carefully leaned into his touch.

He felt Louis look over at him and he slowly peeked at the older lad, only to see his cheeks tinted pink before turning back to the stage. But as he did that Harry felt Louis’ fingers caressing over his bicep over and over again, and Harry wouldn’t complain if he never stopped.

“Damn, Liam's going hard tonight huh?”

Harry jumped a bit at the voice in his ear, only to see Zayn laughing amusedly at him. “Yeah, yeah, he sounds great,” and for the first time since Liam stepped on stage Harry actually listened to him play.

He had to admit Liam did sound really amazing. He was so into what he was playing, his wrist moving fast and fingers moving along the neck of the violin in a frenzy. It was more interesting than the Bach and Mozart pieces everyone else was playing. Clearly what Liam was playing was completely his own and modern, more upbeat and kind of had a funky rhythm you wanted to nod along too.

And when the older lad finished Harry was a bit startled by the whistles, claps and cheers coming from around the room. Louis and Zayn had gotten out of their seats and were cheering like mad for their best mate, and even from where they were sitting Harry could see Liam lightly blushing to himself.

“There’s no way he’s getting beat tonight,” Louis said through a wide smile as he took his seat and wrapped his arm around Harry’s shoulders again. “He’ll be moving up, and hopefully soon it’ll be him versus me.”

“I would love for Liam to beat Mclane, holy shit that would be awesome,” Zayn said before shoving his seat back. “You boys want another round?”

“Yeah, I’ll take another beer,” Louis nodded. “H you want one?” he asked, giving the younger lad’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Uhm yeah, sure,” Harry nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull a few bills out.

“Oh, I got it mate, don’t worry about it,” Zayn said, and before Harry could even protest he walked off to get another round of beers.

“Don’t even bother,” Louis shook his head as Harry was about to follow after Zayn and shove money in his hand.

Harry let out a quiet breath as he sat back in his seat and felt Louis running his fingers over his skin again. And just before he was about to say that he wanted to help pay he felt his phone violently vibrating in his pocket.

“Oh shit,” he muttered, seeing Niall’s name flash across the screen.

“What?” Louis asked, looking over his shoulder to see who was calling. “Are you in trouble or something? What’s wrong?”

“He’s gonna kill me,” Harry said as he shook his head and pushed himself out of his seat. “We haven’t gotten anything done in a week and now we’re here, it’s just… I’ll be right back.”

And he didn’t even have time to take in Louis’ worried glances before rushing towards the stairs so he wouldn’t interrupt who was playing on stage and answering his phone.

“Where the hell are you?!” Niall’s voice boomed through the speaker. “I’m at your flat and you’re not here! You have absolutely nothing done and only three more weeks to write seven more songs!! Are you kidding me?!”

Harry rubbed a hand over his face, expecting this. “Listen, I know we’ve been lagging behind a little bit but-”

“Harry playing nerf guns and going on walks through the park isn’t just lagging behind, it’s not doing your work at all!!” Niall said frustratedly. “The paps catch you and your great buddy Louis going out everyday and every single fucking day nothing gets done! Your crush was cute at first but enough is enough! You need to get your arse back here and start your goddamn work!”

Harry felt his jaw go slack as he heard his best mate and pulled his phone away from his ear before looking at it in disbelief and hanging up. He wanted to scream, he wished he could yell out his frustration, and just be done with this whole album, to relieve the stress that's been building on top of him. But he couldn't, so instead Harry just shoved his phone into his pocket and made his way back to the table.

“Everything okay?” Louis asked as Harry took a seat next to him.

“Yeah, fine,” Harry breathed out, reaching for a beer and taking a large swig of it.

He could see Louis looking at him, not so convinced. “You sure? I mean if you need to go it’s no problem-”

“I want to be here,” Harry said, shaking his head and trying to send the older lad a sincere smile. There was nothing more he wanted to do than hear Louis play, to watch him beat that arse Mcroy, Mclane, whatever his name was.

Louis bit his lip as he grinned back at Harry and just as he was about to wrap his arm around his shoulders he heard the announcer proclaim Liam the winner, making the bar go into a frenzy.

So Harry, Louis and Zayn cheered for Liam, them being the loudest people in the room as he came to sit back down at the table.

“Alright, alright, you all know what time it is!! Louis Tomlinson, James Mclane get up here!!”

And again the bar went crazy, everyone clapping and cheering for the two before Louis got up from his seat and got his violin out. But just before he made his way up to the stage Harry caught the older lad’s eye and couldn’t help but notice the small wink he sent him.

“Good I have my two boys up here,” the announcer said happily once they were both ready on the stage. “Tonight though we’re going to mix it up a little bit,” he said, grabbing the bar’s attention. “You’re going to pick anyone you want to play with and the two of you have three minutes to come up with something to play. As usual whoever gets the most claps wins, and since Louis has been our winner for the past forever we’ll give you first pick of who you want to play with.”

“Payno!!” Louis said immediately, making a few laughs and claps come from a few people.

Liam smiled widely to himself, only to march back up on stage and give his best mate a hug.

James picked who he wanted to play with, and even the guy he picked didn’t seem too pleased to have to play with him.

“You have three minutes to talk about what you want to play, and time starts… Now!”

Harry watched as Louis and Liam quickly turned to each other, Louis talking rapidly and Liam nodding along with what he was saying. And it only took them a minute of discussing before they were done and smiling at the crowd.

“There’s no way they already planned something,” Harry said in disbelief.

“I dunno mate. When you put those two together nobody knows what’s gonna happen, it’s a free for all,” Zayn said through a quiet laugh. “They’ve been playing together for so long that at this point it’s like second nature to them, they just feed off each other.”

Harry was still at a loss but when he looked over to the other team he had to bite back a laugh at the two of them looking like they were arguing about something. He figured that this would be a more than entertaining battle between the two teams.

“Times up! Mclane, Rooney, you guys are up first.”

The announcer stepped down from the stage and the two men looked to each other before playing. And as they started even Harry recognized it as an overrated pop song. It seems as though Zayn recognized it too as he let out a snort and nearly spit out half his beer.

“Is this a fuckin joke?! They’re playing fucking Love Story by Taylor swift, holy shit can it get any worse?” he asked through a loud laugh, making a few heads turn his way, and some others laugh as well. “He’s always doing this,” Zayn continued as he shook his head. “Louis and Liam are the only ones in this place that can come up with cool and modern rhythms on the spot and every time Mclane tries to do the same thing, but then he comes up with this shit.”

Harry raised his eyebrows at that and when he looked back to the stage he saw Louis’ disgusted face and he let out a loud laugh and ended up having to slap a hand over his mouth to muffle the noise. He could see Louis’ head snap up as he heard him laugh, and the older lad caught his eye before sending him a wide smile.

And thankfully it wasn’t long before the two ended their somewhat refined version of the song, and it sounded like there were more sighs of relief than claps coming from the crowd.

“Booo,” Harry said, cupping his hand around his mouth, making Zayn slap his thigh as he laughed to himself.

“Harry! Babe you can’t do that,” Louis said through his own laughter as he heard the younger lad.

“Oh… Oops,” he said sheepishly through a small blush, not only because some people were looking at him, but because Louis called him babe. And Harry was a second away from booing them a second time just so he could hear the older lad call him that again.

“Thank you for that guys… I guess…” the announcer said, making the bar burst into laughs. “Next up is Tomlinson and Payne!”

Louis and Liam made their way to center stage and got into concert position before looking to each other, and once the room was dead silent they [began](https://youtu.be/D3OLLtrC9HY?t=21s).

With the just the first few notes there was something eerie about the song, something that grabbed everyone’s attention, having no clue what they were playing.

It was Louis who took the lead, Liam backing him as their wrists moved exactly in time together, their concentration visible from anywhere in the room.

They kept it slow in the beginning, building to clearly something big and the more they played the further Harry was on the edge of his seat. He was dying to know what was going to happen next, craving to hear more of what the two had planned.

And over time it seemed that Louis was speeding up, his fingers moving quickly and Liam watching his every move for his cue. But for a millisecond the pair stopped, only to come back in with their fingers and bows moving like crazy along the strings.

It was perfectly timed, the melody coming from both of them in a harmony before there was a slight drop and then Louis continuing with what he was doing, faster and faster as Liam added in his own stuff in the background, bringing texture and more color to the piece.

Harry felt his jaw drop as he watched the two, and he wasn’t the only one as Zayn and everyone else in the room was at a loss. He watched the older lad’s bicep flex with each stroke of his bow, his entire upper body invested as he played. And there was nothing Harry could do but just watch, and he was more than content doing just that.

At one point Liam taking the melody as Louis plucked his strings, and throughout the song they kept it interesting, it was always changing. Everyone in the bar was craving more, wanting to know what else the pair could do, what else they had planned.

And towards the end of it Louis was nearly stomping his foot he was so into it, and as he did that some people in the bar didn’t even hesitate to add in their own claps on the beat.

But everything seemed to stop when the pair began to slow down, pulling their bows down in long drawls to hold out the notes, only for them to finish it out with a quick flick of their wrists.

The bar was silent for only a second before it burst into cheers and claps. Harry was on his feet and was almost tempted to stand on a chair and scream at the top of his lungs but that seemed a bit over the top. So instead he whistled, clapped and called Louis and Liam’s names as loud as he could.

And without any thought it was clear who the winner was, and as Louis and Liam heard their names over the speaker Louis didn’t even hesitate before sending his opponent a shit eating grin.

“My boys did so good!!”

Harry smiled to himself as he saw Zayn lunge at Liam and Louis once they put their instruments down, and when Zayn let them go he swooped in and wrapped his arms around the older lad. And Louis didn’t even hesitate before hugging him back and tucking his head into his neck.

“That was amazing,” Harry breathed out through a wide smile, just barely pulling away from the older lad.

“Thank you,” Louis said just as quietly, his cheeks flushed and breathing slow as he refused to unwrap his arms around Harry’s waist and felt the younger lad’s fingers just barely caress the back of his neck.

“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!!” Zayn chanted through a loud laugh, making the pair pull away quickly from each other and let out nervous chuckles.

“Mate c’mon,” Liam nudged Zayn to get him to stop his teasing. “Lou do you wanna grab another round with me?”

Harry met Louis’ eyes as he looked to him, and it seemed as though that he was waiting for him to give the okay before he said anything to Liam. So Harry nodded at him and earned a soft grin back from the older lad before he followed Liam to the bar.

“Now the real fun begins,” Zayn said happily as he took his seat and chugged whatever beer he had left.

“Wait, what?”

“After they finish playing we all get proper sloshed and there’s a DJ and everything,” Zayn said, pointing to the DJ setup on the stage. “You’d be surprised but these orchestra nerds really know how to throw down.”

Harry raised his eyebrows, not expecting this to be an actual party, but at least now he was happy he was wearing a tank top and shorts so he wouldn’t get hot. And just as he was about to ask how long these things usually last he heard Louis and his loud laugh from across the room.

Somehow he and Liam managed to get behind the bar and started mixing drinks, but when that Mclane guy came up and asked for a beer the only thing Harry heard was a loud “No! Fuck you!” from Louis before he started mixing more drinks together.

He couldn’t help but laugh, and maybe it was a bit too loud as Louis caught his eye and smiled at him before Harry thought of something.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his little leather book where he writes all of his ideas before pulling his pen out of it and opening a new page. At the top he wrote _Fall For You_ , And before he could write any more Louis and Liam came back over to the table.

“Here we are!” Louis said happily, placing four strangely colored shots in front of them. “Fall for you,” he read over Harry’s shoulder and the younger lad was quick to close his book and shove it back in his pocket.

“...What’s this?” Harry asked as he picked up the small glass, trying to figure out it’s contents and avoid any other questions Louis might have.

“This Harold is what I like to call a hangover in the morning,” Louis said, picking up his own glass.

Harry looked at the drink for a second before shaking his head and remembering what Niall told him. “I can’t… I just have a lot of work to do tomorrow, work that I should’ve done tonight and just-”

He stopped himself as he saw Louis’ face fall, and at first it was because he thought that the older lad was disappointed, but then he saw his face fill with guilt.

“Harry oh my God I am so so sorry,” Louis rushed out, putting his own glass down. “I’m basically ruining your career right now aren’t I? Shit! Do you want to go? I’ll walk you home right now if you-”

“Louis!” Harry said, needing him to shut up for a second. “I just can’t get super drunk, geez,” he said through a quiet laugh. “I want to stay and I’ll drink a bit, but tomorrow we really have to get to writing.”

Louis nodded immediately and Harry could see that he felt awful, and all Harry wanted to do was hug him and tell him it was okay, but instead he just picked up a beer and nodded at the older lad.

He watched Louis pick up his own beer before hesitantly bringing it to his lips, and he only did that because Harry took his own swig first.

And just as Harry swallowed he noticed the room if possible get even more dim and loud music began pumping through the speakers.

It wasn’t even a second later people were rushing to a makeshift dance floor in front of the stage. Some had pushed tables to the side to create more room and Harry was actually quite impressed with the group and how lively they were.

“You dance?”

Harry looked over and saw Louis smiling at him, so he let out an airy laugh and shook his head. “Uhm not really,” he said sheepishly.

“Well tonight you do,” Louis said before grabbing his hand and nearly dragging him towards the hoard of people in the middle of the room.

And so for the first in Harry doesn’t even know how long he danced. Well he tried to dance, and Louis helped him out a bit once he was done laughing at him.

He placed his hand on Harry’s waist and pulled him close to his chest as if they weren’t close enough already before moving to the beat of the music. And it was within seconds that Harry felt his cheeks heat up, his entire body heating up, and it stemmed from where Louis was touching him.

It was driving Harry mad how easy it was for Louis to dance to the music, how with everything he did he did it with grace and looked amazing no matter what.

Even dancing, his hair swept over his forehead and his eyes bright and squinted from how much he was smiling. His thin white t-shirt already becoming close to see through from his sweat and even like this Harry swears he’s never seen a more beautiful human being.

All night it was like this. The two pressed close together, Louis’ hand firm on Harry’s waist as they moved to the music.

Occassionaly they would stop at the bar and get a beer before going back in with the crowd and by the time it was 1 am Harry was exhausted from dancing.

He excused himself from Louis and made his way back to the table to catch his breath, but as he sat he found Zayn and Liam still going strong, fists bumping in the air and the two nearly shouting the lyrics of whatever song was playing. And if Harry was being honest he would say that this was the most fun he’s had in a long time.

There were no cameras, no one asking for his autograph, or needing his attention every second. Just some friends, a few drinks, and shitty but more than fun dancing with the guy that seemed to be taking over his life.

“Hey popstar,” and of course here was said guy. “Need an escort home?”

Harry looked up and saw Louis offering him a small smile and his hand before nodding towards the door. He grinned back at the older lad before slipping his hand into Louis’ and getting up from his seat.

“You don’t have to walk me home Lou, it’s fine,” Harry shook his head, not wanting the older lad to leave his friends.

“Sorry Styles, but you’re stuck with me. I already told Liam and Zayn I’m heading out anyway and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

Harry knew that Louis wasn’t going to change his mind. If there was one thing he learned about the older lad this past week was that he was as stubborn as they come. But it’s not like he didn’t mind a little company on his walk home. So he nodded at Louis and it was almost immediate he earned a soft grin back from the older lad.

And as they were heading towards the stairs Louis called out a “bye everyone!!” and earned a “bye Lou!” back before they made their way outside.

As they stepped outside Harry didn’t think he’d ever be more grateful for a June night. Compared to inside the bar the air out here was cool and it felt more than amazing against his sweaty and sticky skin.

“So, how is it that you never dance?” Louis asked as they began to walk. “Cause I’m not gonna lie Harry, that was a bit horrendous back there. I’m surprised you didn’t accidentally hit someone.”

“I did hit someone,” Harry muttered, making Louis go wide eyed. “But it was that dick guy you don’t like, so you’re welcome,” he said nudging the older lad.

“Geez Harry,” Louis said as he laughed to himself and adjusted his violin case in his hand. “Seriously, you don’t dance on stage or anything?”

“Well no… I mean it’s just me, my guitar and loop station up there, and sometimes I play the piano but that’s it,” Harry said through a small shrug. “I’ll bounce around or stand on an amp and clap but that’s all. I’m not the everyday overly dramatic and energetic popstar.”

Louis let out a snort as he shook his head and kicked a rock in front of him on the empty city street. “More like a carbon copy of Ed Sheeran but with better hair.”

“Hey, c’mon, Ed’s one of my best mates and he actually has some pretty nice hair-... Louis?” Harry asked as the older lad stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk and looked at him like he was crazy.

“You’re best fuckin mates with Ed Sheeran and you didn’t tell me?!” Louis nearly yelled wide eyed.

“Uhm… Yes?”

“Harry!!” Louis screamed.

“Lou c’mon, we can walk and talk,” Harry urged as he pulled on the older lad’s arm and got him moving again.

And just as he was about to released Louis’ arm he felt a hand grab his.

Harry looked down and watched as Louis slipped his hand into his much larger one before intertwining their fingers, and now it was Harry’s turn to stop in the middle of the sidewalk.

“H you said you wanna walk, let’s walk,” Louis tugged on his hand, and somehow Harry managed to get his feet moving again.

Friends can do this. People who work together can do this, right? This was a normal thing, and Harry had no reason to be freaking out, but he was, he was freaking out big time. Niall told him he had to focus on work and he was doing anything but that at this point. All of his focus was on the man whose hand was currently in his, and that was the last thing he needed, but it was all he wanted.

“So is he the one who showed you how to do all that guitar and loop station stuff? I mean I’ve seen videos of you playing and it’s sick the way you build up every song.” Louis said, keeping his hand in Harry’s. “H?” he asked as he saw the younger lad staring off into space.

“Huh? Oh, uh the loop pedal right,” Harry shook his head, trying to clear his head and not focus on the extra weight in his hand. “Uhm yeah before I go on tour he helps me figure out how to do the loop with all of my songs.”

“When’s the next tour?”

“A month after this album releases,” Harry said quietly, already dreading all of the promotional stuff he’ll have to do for the tour. He’s done a fair share of interviews for this album coming up and the public knows that it'll be out soon. Too bad they’re only halfway done with it.

“Shit…” Louis muttered. “What’s up with the time crunch?”

Harry picked his head up from looking at the sidewalk, knowing they had to cross the street. And just before they did so Louis’ squeezed his hand and led them to the other side.

Their pace was slow, neither of them being in a rush. Harry wanted to keep Louis’ hand in his for as long as he could, wanted to feel the older lad’s warm skin brush against his as they walked down the dim city sidewalk.

“My contract is almost up with my record company and Niall thinks they’re just trying to squeeze as much money out of me as they can cause they know I’m not signing with them again.”

He felt Louis’ eyes on him, and when he looked down at the older lad he could see him looking back at him sadly.

“I’m sorry Harry,” he said quietly. “That just isn’t fair.”

“Well I dunno,” Harry shrugged as a small smile crept onto his lips. “If I didn’t have to write this album I never would’ve met you.”

And just as it came out of Harry’s mouth he wanted to hit himself. That was stupid, that was beyond stupid, and probably one of the worst things he’s said to Louis to date.

“Always quite the charmer, aren’t we?”

Harry bit his lip as he looked down at the older lad and already saw him smiling up at him. And maybe for the millionth time tonight Harry felt his cheeks heating up.

The conversation was left at that though until Harry’s building came into view and they stopped at the building's door.

Louis released his hand only to wrap his arms around his waist, and Harry couldn’t help the slow wide grin that came to him as he wrapped his own arms around Louis’ neck.

He could feel the older lad smiling into his shoulder as he rested his head on top of Louis’, his chestnut hair tickling his nose. And Harry couldn’t do anything more than try to calm himself down, try to make it so his heart wasn’t pounding so hard that Louis could feel it against his own chest.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” Harry laughed to himself as he just barely pulled away from Louis and rested one of his hands gently on the older lad’s stubbled cheek.

Even as Louis rolled his eyes Harry couldn’t miss his breathing start to slow, how Louis began to just barely move them back and forth in place on the sidewalk. “What is Fall for you? What you wrote in your notebook, what does it mean?” he asked just loud enough for Harry to hear.

Harry stood there in the moonlight with his arms wrapped around Louis as the older lad swayed them in front of the building’s door, not sure what to say to him, how to explain himself. But at the same time all Harry could think was that friends don’t do this, two people working together can’t do this. At this point though he couldn’t care less about what he was told he couldn’t do. So before he let go of the man in his arms and without thinking he dipped his head and gently pressed his lips to Louis’ cheek, making the older lad freeze before he grinned softly to himself.

“Goodnight Lou.”

And before Louis could mutter anything back, before he could ask another question Harry released himself out of Louis' grip and walked towards the door of his building, but not without hearing a quiet “goodnight Haz” behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry was sprawled out on his couch, his little leather book and pen resting on his chest while the tv was softly playing in the background. He was able to finish his song, and Harry realized that once he sat down to write the words effortlessly came to him. The words he’s been dying to say, the questions he had to ask Louis, but never would.

A second later Harry felt his phone vibrate next to him, only to see a Twitter notification from Louis. He furrowed his eyebrows and when he opened the app Harry couldn't help but smile to himself.

**@Louis_Tomlinson: @Harry_Styles what do you want in your tea ?**

“Two sugars and a little bit of milk please,” Harry called out, knowing he was right in the kitchen.

"Tweet it you loser!"

Harry rolled his eyes but typed on his phone anyway, willing to participate in another one of the older lad's silly little games.

**@Harry_Styles: @Louis_Tomlinson two sugars and a little bit of milk please Xx**

And it was because of things like that that had Harry confused. He didn’t know where he stood with Louis, what their relationship was. Especially the night after underground.

Louis was still his bubbly, loud and touchy self, and he used more pet names than he had before, but that was it. Harry wasn’t sure if Louis took him kissing his cheek as a friendly thing or what, but since then nothing has really changed between them.

“Here H, it’s still kinda hot so I’m gonna let it cool off,” Louis said, placing both his and Harry’s tea on the coffee table. “You’ve been scribbling in that thing all day, are you ever gonna show me what you wrote?”

“No,” Harry mumbled as he picked his head up so Louis could sit, and once the older lad was situated he laid back down on his lap.

He closed his little leather book and shoved it in his pocket before Louis even got the chance to think about stealing it from him. He’s been asking about it all day, actually since underground two days ago, but Harry refuses to tell him anything, only making Louis that much more curious.

“Well is it a song or something?” Harry felt Louis brush his fingers through his hair, and just at the gentle touch he was ready to melt. “Are you writing songs about me? Is that why you can’t show me?” Louis teased.

Harry let out his best convincing laugh before shaking his head and muttering a quiet “no.”

And he could see Louis rolling his eyes above him, but the older lad didn’t say anything else on the matter.

“Have you had any ideas about what to write? I know if we don’t get at least one song done today Niall will have both our heads,” Harry said, looking up at Louis and making his fingers dig even more into his hair.

“Uhm yeah, I uh, I’ve had a couple thoughts,” Louis said quietly as he began to gently massage Harry’s scalp.

“So..?” Harry raised his eyebrows at him, silently telling Louis to share.

Louis let out a quiet breath, almost like he was debating with himself as he glanced from his tattered notebook and back to Harry. But in the end he reached for his notebook before opening it and trying to find the correct page.

“It’s still rough and I have like a verse done so bare with me,” Louis cleared his throat, and opened and closed his mouth, still unsure if he wanted to share what he had. “So the uh, the start is, look around, there’s no one but you and me. Right here and now, the way it was meant to be.”

Harry saw Louis steal a glance at him, and he knew that the only thing the older lad would see were his cheeks tinted and a smile he was trying to bite back. And Harry saw Louis grinning himself before he looked back to his paper.

“There’s a smile on my face. Knowing that together everything that’s in our way, we’re…” and Louis trailed off, scratching the back of his neck and shaking his head. “That’s uh, that’s all I have so far.”

“It’s a really good start Lou,” Harry said softly. “I like it, I like it a lot actually.”

“Thanks,” Louis said a bit sheepishly. “So are you gonna show me what you have?”

Harry let out a snort, no way in hell that was happening. “Still no.”

He could see Louis start to pout at him and Harry quickly shook his head before sitting up and off the older lad’s lap. “M’not falling for it.”

And Louis must’ve seen that he really meant it as it wasn’t even a second later he was on his feet and grabbing Harry’s hand. “C’mon, we’re going for a walk.”

“Louis it’s like 9:30, it’s too late to walk,” Harry said, looking out his large windows and seeing the city below them dark except for the few buildings that lit up the sky.

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” Louis tugged on Harry to get him to stand. “I know walking helps you think so let’s go.”

Harry was at a bit of a loss of what to say, so instead he didn’t say anything. He followed Louis to the door and the two made their way downstairs before joining the busy city street.

“Wanna go to the park?” Louis asked, already snaking his arm around Harry’s waist to guide him across the street.

Harry hummed, trying to focus on where to walk and not Louis’ hand on his waist. And even when they were across the street and heading into the park Louis didn’t take his hand off him. But instead of his arm around his waist the older lad slipped his hand into Harry’s, and the younger lad would be lying if he said that he hasn’t wanted Louis to do this since underground.

“What has you all stressed?” Louis asked quietly, their bare arms skimming against each other as they walked in step together. “Is it Niall? The album deadline maybe?”

“I dunno, I guess,” Harry said just as softly, keeping his eyes on the path in front of him. Although Niall really was starting to irritate him he wasn’t the source.“I’ve just been thinking a lot and spend too much doing that than writing.”

“What have you been thinking about?” Louis asked, squeezing his hand gently, trying to get Harry to look at him.

‘You’ Harry wanted to say, wanted to scream but he couldn’t, not now. “Uhm Niall I guess, and the media,” he said instead. “He keeps telling me that we’ve been papped going out together and it’s driving him mad cause we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”

“Is that a problem though? Like us being papped together?”

Harry shrugged, so far it hasn’t been a problem. “No, not really. All the headlines are basically saying that I’m out with my new best mate and no one really knows who you are. I know the fans have been doing their own investigating like always though,” he quietly laughed to himself.

“Yeah I gained a shit ton of followers after you followed me back on Twitter,” Louis said through a small smile. “But is that all? Is there anything else you’ve been thinking about?”

And again Harry just shrugged. “The album, but uh, that’s it.”

He looked down to see Louis’ reaction and if Harry wasn’t mistaken he thought he saw a flash of disappointment in the older lad’s eyes before he shifted his gaze to the ground.

“Yeah, right, okay,” Louis barely whispered, and before Harry even knew what the blue eyed lad was doing he felt Louis tug his hand out of his own.

Harry looked down at him and saw that Louis created enough room between them so that their arms didn’t even have a chance of knocking into each other. And just at that he knew he said something wrong, or maybe didn’t say what Louis was hoping to hear.

“Lou,” he said, just loud enough for the older lad to hear, making them both stop in their tracks.

Harry could just barely see Louis raise his eyebrows at him in the dark, could almost see the hurt that took the place of the usual spark in his eyes.

“I just… I don’t know- did I say something wrong?"

“No, no... It's nothing,” Louis shook his head, making his hair sweep into his eyes.

Harry looked at him, and noticed that he was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes like normal. He wanted to know what he said that made him so upset, he wished he could explain everything and for an award winning lyricist you’d think he’d be better with his words. But when it came to Louis he was at a complete loss.

“Wanna keep walking?”

Harry bit his lip and saw the older lad offering his hand to him, so Harry nodded and slipped his hand back into Louis’ before they continued their walk along the path.

“When we get back you should write the second verse to the song I showed you,” Louis said quietly. “Clearly you have a lot of stuff on your mind, so write it down, let it out.”

Harry wasn't so sure about that. Yeah, it was a good idea and he had a lot of stuff to unload but he wasn’t sure he could share it with Louis.

“You know what, no, do it now,” Louis said, stopping them in the middle of the path. “I know that when we get back you’ll write it in your little book and I’ll never see it, so say it, right now.”

Harry felt himself freeze and look at Louis wide eyed before the older lad looked back at him expectantly. “Well I dunno, I can’t just-”

“Harry,” Louis said sternly. “I’ll say what I wrote again and I want you to respond to it. Don’t think, just go.”

And Harry listened as Louis said the verse he wrote. The lyrics now matching where they were, all alone, no one but them in the middle of the park and that’s just how Harry wanted it, how he wanted to keep it, just him and Louis.

He listened as the older lad said it was going to be okay because it was the two of them, nothing was going to get in their way, no matter how crazy things got.

“So?” Louis asked with raised eyebrows. “Don’t think, just say.”

Harry faltered for a minute as Louis watched him. “I don’t know uhm…”

“Harry just respond, what do you want to say?” Louis asked softly, taking a step closer to the curly haired lad.

“...Take me,” he said quietly, wanting to leave with Louis, wanting to forget about the album, the tour and just take the man in front of him and go.

“Where do you want to go? When?” Louis asked just as quietly.

“Take me now,” Harry breathed out, noticing Louis coming closer and closer to him. “This uh, this worlds such a uhm, a crazy place.

Louis nodded at him and for the first time in what felt like forever Harry saw him genuinely smiling. “Take me now, this worlds such a crazy place,” Louis repeated. “Keep going.”

Harry shook his head and thought about Louis, thought about who he was. He tried to imagine what would happen if he told Louis what he was really thinking about most of the time, what he himself would do.

“When the walls come down you’ll know I’m here to stay,” he barely whispered, looking at Louis for a reaction, only to see his smile reaching his eyes. “There’s nothing I would change,” Harry shook his head, his own grin creeping onto his lips as he felt Louis rest a gentle hand on his hip.

And that was when he looked up. Green meeting blue immediately, making Harry’s breathing come out shaky and slow.

“Finish it,” he just barely heard Louis say.

“Knowing that together everything that’s in our way…” Harry stole from Louis’ own verse, making the older lad bite his lip and laugh. “We’re-”

Both Harry and Louis jumped at the sudden noise of thunder and lightning above, but that was just before it started to downpour. And as Harry looked up at the sky in disbelief, his shorts and shirt getting soaking wet, Louis let out a booming laugh.

He had to squint his eyes to even see a blurred image of Louis from how hard it was raining, but it was only a second later the older lad was grabbing his arm and twirling him in the middle of the path.

“Aw look at your hair,” Louis said through a soft laugh once Harry was facing him again.

Harry bit his lip as he felt Louis combing his fingers through his hair that was matted to his head. Him gently tugging at the few hairs he had on the back of his neck before pulling them closer.

He watched as Louis locked his eyes on his chest, taking note of the tattoos that were visible through his soaked through white t-shirt. He just barely traced over them with his fingers, and at the touch Harry felt time stop.

His breathing just barely coming out as he watched the older lad, needing to blink away the rain that was falling into his eyes so he could see Louis. His own chestnut hair falling into his eyes and clothes soaked through enough that his shirt was sticking to his toned chest.

And like Harry had Louis stopped what he was doing, only to look up at the younger and lick his bottom lip.

At this point Harry’s breathing wasn’t even coming out. He was just watching the older lad, waiting for him to do something. And Harry doesn’t know when he wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist, but he had, and so he used that to pull the older lad impossible closer to his chest.

“Harry… I-”

And again the two jumped at the sudden sound of thunder above them, the rain coming down hard and fast on them as they broke apart and just looked to each other.

“We should uh, we should probably go back.” Harry saw Louis watching him for a moment, and it seemed as though that maybe the older lad didn’t want to go back to the flat, instead he wanted to stay in the rain, wanted to take back the position they were just in.

But Louis did nod, and before the two started their walk back through the rain Harry felt Louis reach for his hand and intertwine their fingers. And Harry swears, even holding the older lad’s hand gave him the same feeling he had when he had Louis in his arms.

The two walked through the rain, not even caring about getting wet anymore as they were already soaked through. But when another thunder clap roared over their heads Harry saw Louis jump, and it was clear the older lad was a bit afraid, so Harry may have took off running to playfully get them back to the flat faster, making Louis chase after him.

They stomped through puddles and skidded on the sidewalk as they ran, Louis pulling on Harry’s t-shirt to slow him down so he could take the lead.

Harry couldn’t help but laugh over the rain pouring down on them as he tried to catch back up with Louis, accidentally knocking into pedestrians on the street and stepping into a particularly deep puddle, if possible making his converse more wet than they already were.

“I win!!” Louis cheered as he stopped in front of Harry’s building.

“Only because you pulled on my shirt you cheater,” Harry breathlessly said over the rain, trying to calm his heart rate from running so much.

“You’re just upset you didn’t win,” Louis rolled his eyes as he led them inside.

Harry scoffed but followed Louis inside, their shoes squeaking on the marble floors. But then he noticed that the power had gone out. Harry figured it was because of the storm, but really he lived in a more than nice building, they should have a generator.

And when they got upstairs and to the flat it unsurprisingly also didn’t have power, but that wasn’t what caught Harry’s eye. It was almost immediate Louis started pulling his clothes off and Harry’s jaw went slack.

“W-what’re you doing?” he stuttered out as he closed the door behind him.

“M’not gonna sit around in soaking wet clothes,” Louis said like that was a ridiculous question.

Harry couldn’t peel his eyes away from the older lad as he pulled off his shirt and then his shorts. Both sticking to his tan skin, but what made Harry have to almost bite back a groan was when he saw Louis’ boxers soaking wet and sticking to him in all the right places.

“Shit…” he barely breathed out, but apparently it was loud enough to make Louis look up at him. “Uhm, do you uh need a towel or something? I-I might have uhm, might have clothes that fit you,” Harry said quickly.

“That’d be nice,” Louis said through a sheepish laugh. “Unless you want me to just hang out in my boxers for the rest of the night.”

Harry was seriously debating getting Louis clothes or not. He would have absolutely no problem in looking at the older lad’s thick thighs and toned chest all night. But instead Harry decided to not be a creeper and get Louis some work out shorts and tank top.

He changed his shorts as well but left a shirt off, already feeling because of the power outage that the flat was getting uncomfortably warm.

“Here,” he said, passing Louis a towel and the clothes.

“Oh uhm, uh thanks,”

Harry stood there for a second as he saw Louis raking his eyes over his chest, and suddenly he desperately wanted a shirt to put on. But if it was any consolation Louis looked like that was the last thing he wanted Harry to do.

He saw the older lad licking his lips and scan his eyes down his entire front, and Harry never felt so on display before, so open, not even in front of thousands of people on stage did he feel like this. Louis was just one person and all of a sudden Harry had never felt smaller, so vulnerable.

“I’m going to uhm, going to light candles so we can see,” he said quietly, snapping Louis out of his daze.

“Right, yeah, uhm, I’m going to uh I’m gonna change real quick.”

Harry nodded and the two stood there silent for a second, Louis taking one more look at him before he shone his phone in the darkness and scurrying away.

“Holy shit I’m fucked,” Harry quietly groaned into his hands. “C’mon Styles, keep it together, keep your shit together.”

He gave himself a small pep talk, needing to calm down and not over think whatever was going on. And after his small conversation with himself he looked through his cabinet and luckily enough found about four candles. So he put them on the coffee table and lit them, but as he was lighting the last one he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist.

“Babe?”

Harry swallowed thickly as he felt Louis mumbling into his bare shoulder and looked behind him, only to see the older lad nearly clinging to him. “Y-yeah?”

“Would you hate me if I asked to stay here tonight? The busses stopped running and I don’t wanna walk home,” Louis said, releasing him from his grip and moving to lay down on the couch.

“Uhm, yeah, yeah that’s fine,” Harry said quietly. “We can uh, we can talk about more song ideas then.”

Louis hummed his agreement before shifting his gaze from Harry to the candles. “Do you by any chance happen to have marshmallows?”

“I… What? Marshmallows?” he asked confused.

“Yeah, I wanna roast some over the fire,” Louis said, running his finger over the flame of the candle, just barely touching it.

Harry looked at Louis like he had gone mad, neve hearing such a ridiculous thing. “Uhm, yeah, maybe. Lemme check.”

“Thank you!” Louis called out happily as Harry made his way into the kitchen.

“You do realize that is a candle fire right?” Harry asked through a quiet laugh as he sifted through his cabinets, actually finding what Louis wanted in the dark and then grabbing some toothpicks to use over the fire.

“What? I had no idea,” Louis said sarcastically as Harry brought him what he wanted, making him sit up from the couch. “It’s a tiny bon fire.”

Harry swears he’s never seen such a man child before. He watched as Louis giddily placed a tiny marshmallow on a toothpick and then roast it over the fire, his smile never leaving his face.

“You’re ridiculous,” he muttered, his own grin creeping onto his face as he watched Louis concentrate on getting the entire marshmallow brown.

“Ridiculous yes, but also a genius I’d like to think,” Louis said softly as he pulled his toothpick away from the fire and pulled the marshmallow off. “Here,” he offered to Harry, the tiny marshmallow resting on his finger and nearly shoving it in the younger lad’s mouth.

Harry rolled his eyes but opened his mouth anyway to take the roasted marshmallow Louis was offering him. “Tastes like lavender,” he laughed to himself.

“But oh how good the sticky sweetness tastes,” Louis said through his own laugh as he put his own finger in his mouth, eating whatever Harry didn’t get. “So do you think with the power being out Niall will give us a break and not scream at us for not recording anything?”

“I dunno,” Harry said quietly as he shook his head and watched as Louis began roasting another marshmallow. “We really need to get writing though. We have like six more songs to write and record, and only two and half weeks to do it.”

“I thought seven?” Louis asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek before glancing over at Louis. “Well I wrote one, I just need to record it.”

“Oh, that one you refuse to tell me about, right,” Louis nodded to himself. “And I guess really five if you count the one we somewhat wrote today.”

Harry nodded to himself before reaching or the closest piece of paper and writing down what he said to Louis before the rain started pouring down on them. “So we have two verses for that? Any ideas for the chorus?”

Louis shrugged as he leaned back against the couch and ate his marshmallow, but Harry could clearly see that he did. He didn’t question the older though.

“Tomorrow we can record those two songs and hopefully Niall will be pleased enough to not want to mount our heads,” Louis said as he wrapped his arm around the back of the couch, just barely ghosting his fingers over Harry’s shoulder.

Harry bit his lip as he nodded to himself, but he knew that he didn’t want to record his song in front of Louis, knew he didn’t want the older lad to listen to it. “Do you think we can do this? Think we can write all those songs in two weeks?”

At that Louis turned to look at Harry and bit the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, I do,” he said softly. “We just have to stop fucking around.”

Harry smiled at Louis and leaned back against the couch himself, allowing the older lad to wrap his arm around his shoulders.

“I’m sorry by the way,” Louis barely whispered.

Harry looked over at Louis as the older lad pulled him into his side and began gently running his fingers up and down his bicep. “For what?”

Louis shrugged, refusing to meet Harry’s eyes. “Distracting you… Making it harder to write your album and pull you away to just hang out.”

Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and when Louis didn’t pick his head up to look at him he rested his hand on the older lad’s thigh, trying to get his attention. “It’s because of you that this album is happening,” he said quietly. “I wouldn’t have gotten anything done if it weren’t for you, and nothing would sound half as good if it wasn’t you at every instrument.”

That last part had Louis quietly laughing to himself, and finally had him turn his head to look at Harry. “You’re too sweet for your own good,” he muttered. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Harry had to strain himself to hear Louis, but he did hear him, and just at what the older lad said and the way his fingers were still gently caressing over his skin he couldn’t help the light blush that made it’s way to his cheeks.

It was quiet in the room for moment, the only noise was the rain still pouring outside and tapping noise it made against the windows. And that’s how they left it for a while.

Harry’s hand gently resting on Louis’ thigh, the older lad’s arm wrapped around him, and his head against Harry’s shoulder. And if Harry could he would be more than happy to stay like this forever. To be wrapped in Louis’ warmth and in his arms, not having to worry about deadlines or tour dates coming up.

But it was maybe a half hour later Harry felt Louis’ fingers still against his bicep and the older lad’s head get heavy on his shoulder making him look down at him. And the only thing he saw in the candle lit room was Louis’ sleeping form, his body weight pressed into Harry’s side and gentle, quiet breaths escaping him.

“Louis…” Harry said through a quiet laugh, gently shaking the older lad so he would wake up. “Lou c’mon.”

He saw Louis flutter his eyes open before completely falling onto his lap and nuzzling his nose into Harry’s stomach. “Harreh,” he whined. “M’tired.”

“Well do you wanna sleep on the couch or in a bed?” Harry asked through a quiet laugh as he gently combed his fingers through the back of his chestnut hair.

“Bed,” Louis mumbled into his stomach, almost making Harry freeze as he felt his lips brush against his bare skin.

“Up then, c’mon,” he said quietly, slowly sitting up and getting Louis off his lap.

He could hear Louis grumbling to himself but he got up anyway, watching as Harry blew out the candles and felt as the younger lad took his hand to lead him through the dark flat.

“The sheets should be clean and everything. No one’s been in there except for my sister like 5 months ago,” Harry said through a quiet laugh as he released Louis’ hand and opened the guest room door for him.

And before he even had the chance to fully turn around Harry felt a strong pair of arms around his bare middle and Louis’ head resting on his shoulder.

“Thanks Haz,” he mumbled into Harry’s skin.

Harry hesitated for a moment before bringing his arms up and gently wrapping them around Louis. “No problem,” he said, it coming out muffled in Louis’ hair.

And just as Louis was about to pull away there was a loud clap of thunder, making the older lad freeze in Harry’s arms.

“You okay?” Harry asked carefully, pulling away just enough to look at Louis.

“Uh huh,” Louis squeaked out as he barely nodded his head.

“You’re not…” Harry furrowed his eyebrows at him, “you’re not scared of thunder are you?”

“Me? What? No, no, of course not… I’m a grown man for God’s sake, I-”

But again Louis jumped, almost to the opposite side of the hallway before going wide eyed.

“Hey, Lou, it’s alright,” Harry said softly as he walked in front of the older lad. “If you want I guess you can sleep in my room…”

Louis looked up at Harry and he saw the blue eyed boy open and close his mouth, not sure before another sound of thunder shook through the flat. And just at that Louis was nearly running into the curly haired lad's room down the hall, leaving a laughing Harry behind him.

He walked after Louis and into his room, already seeing him sitting on his bed. “Sure, make yourself comfortable,” Harry teased.

And he could only imagine Louis rolling his eyes as he made his way towards the bed and laid down on top of the covers, it being too hot to even think about getting under any blankets.

Apparently Louis thought the same thing too as he groaned “fuck it’s hot,” before pulling off his t-shirt and laying down in bed next to Harry.

Harry bit his lower lip as he stole a glance at Louis, only to see the older lad staring up at the ceiling. He rolled over a bit so he was closer to Louis making it so his chest was pressed into Louis’ arm and also grabbing the blue eyed lad’s attention.

“You sure you’re alright?” he asked quietly, not wanting Louis to be scared, especially of something as harmless as thunder.

Even in the dark Harry could see a slow smile make it’s way to Louis’ lips before the older lad snaked an arm under him and pulled Harry by his waist into his side. “Yeah… I’m better than alright,” he barely whispered.

And Harry couldn’t help but grin back down at him, and before he could even think about rolling away from Louis to go back to his own side of the bed the older lad shifted them so Harry was on his back and Louis was resting his head on his shoulder, their legs tangled at the end of the bed and Louis’ hand tracing over the tattoo on Harry’s chest.

“Sorry, I’m a bit of a cuddler,” Louis mumbled.

All Harry could do though was let out an airy laugh and wrap his arm around Louis’ waist before resting his head on top of the older lad’s.  And as they laid there in the darkness, the rain pouring against the window and Louis’ head resting on Harry’s chest he could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, it being impossible for Louis not to hear or feel it himself.  But if he did feel it the older lad didn’t say anything. Instead he just ran one of his hands up and down Harry’s side while the other rested on the green eyed boy’s bicep.

And while Harry looked down at Louis he never felt so content, so at peace with such simple things. And if anyone asked he would say that he’s better than alright too.

*~*

It took Harry two days to convince Niall that him and Louis weren’t sleeping together.

The Irishman had come into Harry’s flat uninvited of course and just so happened to find the two sleeping and cuddled up on the bed, only half clothed. So naturally he made assumptions, and to no ones surprise the two were blushing like mad when Niall caught them in the state.

But before Niall was about to kill them both for having nothing done Louis surprised not only Niall but also Harry with the final touches of the song he and Harry were working on before it started raining.

Louis didn’t even bother changing or putting clothes on before pulling the two to the studio and showing them what he had in mind. And again Harry was more than amazed with Louis Tomlinson. He doesn’t know how Louis keeps doing it, keeps coming up with these crazy ideas and amazing lyrics.

And thankfully enough what he had was good enough to get Niall off their backs and leave them to another day of writing and hopefully recording their new song.

The two were more than pleased with themselves that they were in fact able to finish the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgeA8frWjvQ) by the end of the day, and when Louis left after dinner Harry made his way back to the studio.

He had his own song he wanted to record, and he was happy that Louis hadn’t brought it up all day, knowing he wouldn’t be able to explain it to the older lad, or show it to him.

So in those two days they had two less songs to write, leaving at least four more.

Four songs in two weeks. It wasn’t impossible now that Harry knew where to find his inspiration. It wasn’t out on the street, or in a cafe or park, but the man that he’s been spending everyday with, the man that has him doubling over in laughter and seems to make him smile for no reason. He didn’t have to go out and find inspiration, it’s been next to him all along.

*~*

“You realize there’s like 20 girls following us, don’t you?” Louis muttered as he chanced a glance over his shoulder, only to see a group of squealing teenagers behind them.

“Yup,” Harry said, popping the ‘p’ as he continued walking, grabbing Louis’ arm to urge him to walk as well.

“You normally want to stop and talk with them, you don’t want to?”

Harry always wanted to stop and talk with his fans, sign autographs or take pictures because it was them that made his career possible, but not today. “I’m out with you, so that means you get all my attention,” he said, sending the older lad a small smile.

“Harry c’mon, you know I don’t care if you talk to them,” Louis said as he looked behind him again, only to see the group following them down the park’s path. “As flattered as I am I think you should go over to them.”

“You sure?” he asked, always feeling awful whenever he was out with Louis and a pap or fan caught them in the middle of something.

Louis shrugged, “I mean we came out here to talk about song ideas and so far like usual that’s not happening so I don’t think you meeting some fans are gonna be delaying us.”

Harry looked over at Louis, making sure he was really okay with it before nodding at the older lad and turning around to meet the group that’s been following them. At least now that he’s meeting them maybe they’ll leave them alone.

And of course as Harry approached the group they all began squealing and nearly jumping in delight. He could hear Louis laughing behind him and Harry had to strain himself to not glare at the older lad, and instead just nudged him gently.

“Hello everyone!” he said happily, only for a girl to wrap her arms around his neck a second later. Harry laughed to himself, never understanding how he seemed to make people this happy by doing absolutely nothing. “We all good? Having a nice day?” he asked as he hugged the girl back.

“Okay! Can I just say that you two are like the cutest friends I’ve ever seen?!”

Harry raised his eyebrows as he heard the girl who was hugging him then let go and look between him and Louis.

“Aw yeah, my best mate Hazza here, he’s the cutest,” Louis teased, wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulders and poking his dimple.

“Get away from me,” Harry said through a laugh as he playfully shoved Louis away, for some reason that making the girls squeal again.

“Can you please tell us your name? We’ve been dying to know who you are since forever,” another girl asked as Harry began to pose to take a picture with someone.

“Who I am?”

Harry looked over to Louis from the girl he was taking a picture with, and saw the older lad look at him, as if silently asking if he could give out his name. And Harry had no problem if Louis didn't, so he nodded at him before moving onto the next girl for a picture.

“Uhm yeah, I’m Louis Tomlinson.”

“I told you he was Twitter guy!!”

And again Harry looked over to who was talking to Louis, having no clue what ‘Twitter guy’ meant, and clearly neither did Louis.

“Harry followed you on Twitter a couple weeks ago right? Some of us thought it was you but we didn’t really have a clear picture so we weren’t sure,” the girl informed them. “We see you two tweet at each other all the time though, it’s so cute!!”

“Sure, yeah, that’s me, Twitter guy I guess,” Louis said through a quiet laugh as he watched Harry moving from fan to fan, asking them how they were doing and genuinely caring about the answer. "Here watch this. He has me set so whenever I tweet or tag him in something it notifies him," he said, already pulling out his phone.

**@Louis_Tomlinson: Did you know @Harry_Styles wees sitting down ? I've seen it.**

And it was only a moment later Harry pulled his phone out of his pocket, his eyes going wide before he furiously typed on the screen.

**@Harry_Styles: @Louis_Tomlinson that's because you broke the toilet with your fat arse !!**

Louis' jaw dropped as the girl next to him nearly doubled over from laughing so hard at the two. "You're never getting cuddles again!!" he yelled over everyone at the younger lad.

"Good! I don't want you touching me!" Harry called back, but he was saying it through a smile as he got next to another girl to take a picture. "And stop tweeting me!"

"But how will you know how I truly feel?"

Harry rolled his eyes as he heard Louis joking and just decided to let that one go unanswered as he moved from person to person, trying to get to everyone.

“Loueh!” he called out, wanting his attention.

“Harreh!” Louis yelled back before he found where the younger lad was and walking over to him. “What’s up?”

“Ashley here would like a picture with both of us,” Harry said, already wrapping an arm around the girl.

He could see Louis a bit surprised at that, but he didn’t hesitate before getting on the other side of the girl and resting his arm top of Harry’s that was around her.

The three quickly took a picture and just as Harry was about to move to the girl next to her to snap a quick photo he could see someone else nearly shaking from crying so hard.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” he rushed over to her, only to see her freaking out more when he rested his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place.

“O-oh my G-God, i-it’s you…”

“Yeah, it’s me in the flesh,” Harry said, offering her a small smile, wanting her to calm down. “Breathe yeah? I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere until you’re okay.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and rubbed her back, wanting to do anything to calm the young girl down. And it may have taken about 10 minutes for her to actually start breathing normally again, but Harry would’ve stood there for another 30 if he needed to.

But he took a picture with the girl and signed about five things for her before giving her one more hug and meeting with everyone else. Before he and Louis said their final goodbye’s and thank you’s though he caught the girl’s eye and sent her a wink before waving at her and following Louis down the path they were taking before they stopped.

“You’re really incredible with them, you know that?”

Harry looked down at Louis and smiled to himself as he shrugged. “I dunno, I mean I love them. I wanna do everything I can for them because they gave me so much.”

Louis let out a small laugh as he shook his head and wrapped his arm around Harry’s waist as they walked. “You’re something else Styles.”

Harry hummed, hearing that from Louis too many times to count. So instead of saying anything he just wrapped his own arm around the older lad’s neck and pulled him into his side.

“So, why’d you want to drag me to the park tonight? Other than the obvious you need inspiration shit,” Louis teased, knocking their hips together.

“No I… Well I found my inspiration,” Harry said quietly, keeping his eyes in front of him as he tried to bite back a smile. “I actually wanted to show you something. I think you’ll like it.”

“Oh! Surprises!!” Louis said excitedly, almost jumping he was so happy. “Are we not talking about songs tonight then? Did the last two days of work earn us a night off?”

“Yeah, tonight it’s a you and me free for all,” Harry said softly, looking down at Louis only to see him smiling widely to himself.

“Let’s fuck shit up!!!” Louis nearly yelled, making a few people who were also walking along the path turn towards them.

“Louis!” Harry said, trying to keep in a laugh. “Geez, you can’t just scream that.”

“Eh, too late,” Louis shrugged.

Harry rolled his eyes as he unwrapped his arm from Louis and shoved his head playfully. “You’re an idiot,” he said through a quiet chuckle. “And we’re not fucking any shit up, sorry pal.”

“You never let me have fun,” Louis groaned, but as he did so he reached his hand out between them, and Harry didn’t even hesitate before taking it.

At this point it was just natural to him. Holding Louis’ hand, wrapping his arms around him, and just feeling the older lad’s skin against his. It was a warmth that Harry never knew he needed, even in the summer weather, without Louis tucked into his side or his hand in his own he felt cold.

“You and I both know that’s not true,” Harry snorted as he shook his head. “I let you burn marshmallows on toothpicks over candle fire in my living room if you’ve forgotten.”

“They weren’t burnt!” Louis said, almost sounding hurt. “They were perfect and delicious.”

Harry hummed, making Louis squeeze his hand and send him a pointed look, but if anything Louis’ mad face just made Harry laugh to himself.

“Oh shit.”

Harry felt Louis let go of his hand and saw the older lad looking past him, clearly at something. “What?” he asked, following Louis’ gaze, only to see a pap with it’s camera pointed right at them. “C’mon, don’t look at him,” Harry said, tugging on Louis’ arm to get out of the shot and away from the guy.

Louis quickly nodded and didn’t hesitate before doing what Harry told him. “How did he know you were here?”

“Probably saw a picture one of those girls posted,” Harry shrugged, that type of thing happening a lot. “Hopefully we can get to where I want to go fast enough and not get followed.”

And Harry was grateful that Louis took that as a cue to start picking up his pace and thankfully enough when Harry turned around and checked the surrounding area not only was there no one in sight, but no cameras.

“Where are we going? There’s not even a path back here,” Louis said as he followed Harry onto the grass. “You’re going to murder me aren’t you? You seduce me with your curls, boyish good looks and charm just to get me to agree to follow you back here.”

Harry looked at Louis like he had gone crazy before laughing to himself. “And you call me the crazy one.”

“Well I’m not the one trying to kill me.”

Harry rolled his eyes, not even bothering to check and see if Louis was following him as he made his way on top of the green, grassy hill. “When you’re done being ridiculous why don’t you try looking around?”

He heard Louis let out a dramatic sigh and couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh as he turned towards the older lad.

“All I see is us overlooking a field.”

“Exactly,” Harry said through a small smile. “How nice is it that we live in the middle of London, but in the back of a park there’s this place that no one knows about?”

Harry could see Louis looking over at him, knew he was trying to come up with a joke, or trying to think of something to say just to tease him.

“I knew you were trying to kill me.”

And even though it wasn’t Louis’ best Harry had to stifle a laugh and try not to roll his eyes at the older lad as he took a seat on the top of the small hill. “Just wait,” he said quietly.

“Is something magical gonna happen? Are you gonna turn into like a little fairy or something when the sun goes down?” Louis asked, taking a seat next to Harry and resting his hand behind the younger lad to keep himself propped up.

“So at first I was trying to kill you, but now you think at night I become a fairy?” Harry raised his eyebrows at Louis, unable to understand the blue eyed boys thinking process.

“Well it’s one or the other,” Louis mumbled as he tried to bite back a smile and rested his head on Harry’s shoulder.

Harry rolled his eyes and grinned down at the older lad before resting his head on top of Louis’ and nuzzling his nose into his hair. He would never get tired of this. Even if Harry didn’t know what to call them, friends, more than friends, whatever they were, Harry would never get sick of just having Louis so close. Having the older lad pressed into his side, the gentle touches and not so subtle glances they sent each other.

“Did you bring me back here to watch the sunset?”

Harry shrugged, “maybe,” he said quietly.

“Harreh,” Louis groaned, nearly shoving his head into the younger lad’s neck. “I like surprises, suspense not so much.”

“What do you mean? We watched that scary movie the other night and you did fine with that,” Harry said through a soft grin as he wrapped his arm around Louis’ waist and pulled him even closer to his side.

“Yeah cause I was basically in your lap and hiding my face in your neck all night.”

Harry hummed, at least for him it was a very good night. “Well trust me, there will be no monsters or someone trying to kill you here.”

“No, just a psychotic Harry Styles and his army of fairies.”

Harry let out a snort as he laid down on the grass, but of course as he did that Louis just had to roll over and hover over him. He felt the older lad rest one of his hands by his head while the other gently fell onto his hip, and Harry couldn’t remember the last time he felt so nervous around Louis. Maybe the night they were watching the scary movie and Louis was so close him, close enough he could just barely feel his lips on his neck and his fingers squeezing his arm. But this… Louis was so close that if Harry wanted to he could card his fingers through the older lad’s hair and without any effort pull him down for their lips to meet.

“Well the sun is setting and you haven’t changed into a fairy yet,” Louis said quietly, not breaking his eyes away from the younger lad’s.

Harry felt his mouth open but nothing came out. Instead he just laid under Louis, let the older lad rub his thumb into the small patch of skin that was exposed when he laid down and his shirt rode up.

“Did you bring me here to show me something, or to tell me something?”

“...Tell you what?” Harry barely managed to ask, trying his hardest not to focus on the way Louis was touching him, the way he was talking to him in such a soft and quiet tone, almost making Harry want to melt.

“I don’t know,” Louis whispered, shaking his head.

Harry saw Louis squeeze his eyes shut and let out a quiet breath as he ducked his head. He didn’t know what the older lad wanted him to tell him, what Louis wanted him to say. But then Harry saw the reason they came here.

“Look,” he said, just barely sitting up and pointing towards the small field in front of them.

Harry felt Louis keep his eyes on him for a moment before moving himself so he wasn’t over him anymore and followed the younger lad to where he was pointing.

“Oh… Wow.”

“I know.”

Harry smiled softly to himself as he saw the grassy field littered with fireflies everywhere, almost lighting up the ground. They always came out at this time, and it seemed like there were hundreds of them floating around. Of course Harry could never tell as one second they were there and the next gone. Within the blink of an eye Harry saw the beauty appear only for it to go away and come back again.

“I knew you had an army of fairies.”

He could hear Louis laughing beside him, but kept his eyes on the flicking lights in the dimming sky. The sun setting, blurs of soft oranges and pinks breaking through the clouds above.

But then Harry felt Louis get up beside him, and looked up only to see the older lad walking towards the flashing lights in the field.

“Where are you going?”

“I wanna catch one.” Louis said over his shoulder.

Harry watched as Louis made his way to the small field and almost immediately began cupping his hands in the air, trying to catch the insect. But of course when he opened his hands to see If he got one he came up empty and tried again. And after a few tries and fails Louis seemed almost completely fed up before he started running around and clapping his hands together to catch a firefly.

Harry felt a slow smile make it’s way to his lips, but that was before he felt his chest become heavy. Right then as he watched Louis running around in the field of fireflies that he didn’t just like the blue eyed boy, he loved him.

He loved every little thing Louis did, may it be humming to himself as he made their teas or the way he would shove popcorn in his mouth and chew obnoxiously as they watched a movie.

Harry loved the way Louis roasted marshmallows over candles and how he ran in the rain. Loved how confident, caring, and funny he was without trying. He loved how Louis tried catching fireflies in the night, would chase after them and try to catch one, but then squeal when one landed on him.

And Harry didn’t know how it happened, how in two and a half weeks he fell in love with a man who made him smile for no reason. Just at the thought had him grinning wide enough for his dimples to show, and that scared him. It scared him how hard and how fast he had fallen for Louis Tomlinson, and how the older lad probably didn’t feel the same.

“Harry!!”

He snapped his head up and almost immediately saw Louis running at him, the older smiling like he had won a prize before standing over Harry and bringing up his cupped hands.

“I caught one, look!”

Louis just barely opened his hands and when Harry looked inside he saw nothing. “I think it got away,” he said through a quiet laugh.

“What?” Louis asked, his face falling as he too saw his empty hands. “God dammit!” he groaned before stomping back over to the field and start chasing after the bugs again.

“Lou you kind of remind me of a firefly,” Harry said as he watched the older lad running around.

“I’m better than these little fairy bugs!” Louis said, flinging his arms forward to try and catch one, only to miss again.

“You have like, the same energy as them. I’m pretty sure that’s the symbol behind them.”

“Harry fireflies don’t mean energy,” Louis scoffed.

“Yes they do,” Harry said in a sing song voice, already pulling out his phone to prove him wrong.

He looked up the symbolic meaning of fireflies and of course in the list energy was at the top. “It does, see,” Harry said, holding up his phone and flashing the screen towards Louis.

Louis stopped running around and let out a deep breath before walking over to him and plopping himself down in the grass. “Let’s see,” he said, already taking the phone from Harry. “Hope, energy… Oh, whoops,” Louis said sheepishly. “Well it means more stuff too.”

Harry moved closer to the older lad so he could read over his shoulder and read down the list. “Hope, energy, new ideas, creativity, inspiration, illumination, attraction-”

“Attraction, I like that one,” Louis said, tapping on the word to read more about it. “Alright, let’s see… It says, the firefly primarily uses its light in mating ceremonies, and it is quite elaborate and intricate. Light signals are precise and exactly timed in order to attract the right mate.”

Harry felt his cheeks heat up as Louis read off the screen and wiggled his eyebrows at him. He bit his lip and before the older lad could notice his colored cheeks he laid back on the grass. Harry should’ve known that Louis would follow him right down though.

“Gave up on trying to catch one?” he asked quietly, feeling Louis rest his head on his shoulder and drape and arm over his stomach.

Louis hummed, tracing invisible lines up and down the younger lad’s chest. “This is more fun.”

“M’not so sure about that,” Harry said through an airy laugh, keeping his eyes on the darkening sky. “I’m pretty sure running around with fireflies is more enjoyable than just laying here with me.”

He could feel Louis shifting his head on his chest and when he glanced down at him he saw the older lad’s chin resting on him, immediately making their eyes meet.

“Harry, I…”

And Harry could see it, could see Louis desperately wanting to tell him something, trying to convince himself to continue. But he didn’t know why, didn’t know why Louis looked so lost and confused. He’s always seen the older lad so confident, but whatever it was he was trying to tell Harry somehow stripped that confidence away.

“I uhm, I like you,” he barely whispered, unable to meet Harry’s eyes.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at that, not quite sure why that was so hard to say. He knew Louis and him were mates, if they weren’t he wouldn’t be laying on him like he was.

“Well I like you too Lou,” he said, offering him a small smile.

He saw Louis look back up at him and open and close his mouth, seeming like he wanted to say more. But instead all Louis did was nod and bite his lip before sitting up and pushing himself off the ground.

“C’mon, we should uhm, we should get back,” Louis said quietly.

Harry shifted his gaze to Louis and looked at him confused before getting off the ground himself. And as soon as he was on his feet Louis shoved his hands in his pockets and started leading them back to the park’s path.

“Hey,” Harry said softly, catching up with Louis and gently reaching for his arm. “Are you okay?” he asked, noticing an almost immediate change in the older lad’s demeanor.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just a bit tired from running around I guess,” Louis nodded, keeping his eyes to the ground once they found the path.

“Oh, well if you want you can stay over again,” Harry offered. “I know there’s no rain or terrifying thunder or anything, but if you want you can,” he said through a quiet chuckle.

He heard Louis let out his own laugh, but it sounded almost like the older lad was forcing it out, and that was something Harry didn’t like at all.

Louis should always be happy, should always be smiling, and Harry had no clue why he wasn’t.

But he noticed on their entire walk back to the flat that Louis kept his hands firm in his pockets, that he barely picked his head up from looking to the ground. And Harry wanted to ask what seemed to make him so upset, but Louis said he was tired, so maybe it was just that.

When they got back to the flat though Louis was quick to kick off his shoes and head straight towards the studio.

Harry followed after him, now more confused than before and when he found Louis sitting at the computer his heart nearly stopped.

“What’re you doing?” he asked praying the older lad wouldn’t see the song he recorded.

“I’m just gonna finish editing the song we recorded the other day and then go to bed,” Louis said, keeping his eyes on the screen.

Harry let out a relieved breath as he nodded to himself. “Alright, well I’m gonna change and then probably watch a little tv. Are you sure you’re okay?”

And all Louis did was hum before typing a few things on the keyboard and move the mouse around.

He didn’t quite believe the older lad, the way he was acting wasn’t like him at all, even if he was tired. Harry didn’t say anything else on the matter though. Instead he said his goodnights and began his way down the hallway, but not before he heard Louis’ shout.

“Harry what is this song on here? It’s titled _Fall_ ,” Louis called out.

Shit.

“Uhm, it's uh, it’s nothing. Just some random things, I mean like, just don’t- don’t listen to it,” Harry stuttered out, feeling his heart race.

And he only somewhat calmed down after there was a beat of silence, followed by a quiet “okay” from Louis.

Harry stood there in the hallway for a minute, hoping that Louis wouldn’t open it, praying he wouldn’t listen to it. And he doesn’t know how, but he managed to shuffle his feet down the hall and to his room to change out of his clothes.

Harry took his sweet time changing, trying to calm himself down and convince himself that Louis wouldn’t listen to the song if he asked him not to. But he also knew how curious the older lad could get, so after 10 minutes of pacing his bedroom Harry rushed back to the studio, only to find Louis in a rather odd place.

“Uhm, Lou..?” he asked, seeing as the older lad was laying under the piano, just staring up at the bottom of it.

And Louis must not have heard him coming, or was surprised to hear his voice because a second later he shot up, only to bang his head against the bottom of the piano.

“Shit,” Harry cursed himself before quickly walking over to the older lad and helping him out from under the instrument. “I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry,” he rushed out as he heard Louis hissing to himself and saw a cut that formed over his eyebrow. “C’mon I’ll get that cleaned up.”

Harry didn’t even wait for Louis’ response before wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling towards the door and to his bedroom’s bathroom. And once they got there he had the older lad sit on the counter before he grabbed a cloth and ran warm water over it.

“Lou I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said quietly before moving to stand in between Louis’ legs and gently wipe his bleeding cut.

Harry wrapped his hand around the back of Louis’ neck, trying to keep him in place. The older lad didn’t say anything though, instead Louis was just staring at him as Harry kept the cloth on his forehead, and his hand in the back of the older lad’s hair, gently massaging his fingers into his skin.

“What were you doing under there anyway?”

“...Thinking,” he barely heard the older lad mutter.

“About?” Harry asked just as softly, lying under a piano an odd place to be thinking, but it was Louis after all.

As he wiped Louis’ cut he could feel how they close they were. Their quiet breaths mixing and their heads so close that if Harry tipped his head up he could capture Louis’ lips with his own. In the dead silent room that’s all Harry wanted to do. Louis was just staring at him though, his hands gripping the counter so hard his knuckles were turning white as he gently cleaned his forehead.

“Are you okay? Did you hit your head really hard? Like do you need to go to the hosp-”

“I listened to it.”

Harry felt himself freeze as he looked back at Louis, only to see his cheeks pink and eyes filled with something he didn’t recognize. “Listened to what?” he barely whispered, more than terrified for the answer.

“[Fall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWp7tPe77Jk)… The song, I-I listened to it.”

Harry swallowed thickly as he pulled his hand down from Louis’ forehead and just stared at him, green meeting blue in the dead silent room. “Louis I can- I can explain,” he rushed out, shaking his head.

This was what he’s been dreading. Louis was probably freaked out, probably doesn’t want to work with him anymore now that he knows. But because he knew at least now Harry had nothing to lose, so why not let it all out?

“I just- I like you, I like you so fucking much and I know I sound crazy and you probably don’t want to be near me anymore but I had to write it down, had to get it off my chest,” Harry said quickly, Louis’ eyes never peeling away from his own, them digging into him like daggers. “You always asked me what I was thinking about and what had me distracted and it’s you it’s always been you and mmmph-.”

He stood there for a moment, completely frozen as he felt Louis’ lips on his. One of the older lad’s hands lost in the back of his curls while the other gripped at his waist.

Harry couldn’t help but gasp at the sudden feeling, only to find himself wrapping his arms around Louis’ middle a second later, just barely picking him off the counter and pressing their chests together. The space once between them was now closed completely, and all Harry could think about was Louis’ lips. How warm his mouth was, how the gentle caress of his lips were softer than he ever imagined.

Louis squeezing him gently between his thighs and bumping their noses together as he hesitantly moved his lips against the younger lad’s, only for Harry to respond by digging his nails into Louis' back.

Harry’s mind racing with Louis. Louis kissed him, Louis was kissing him, and he never wanted him to stop.

But when the older lad just barely pulled away, mere millimeters from Harry’s lips he let out an airy laugh and shook his head, his smile reaching his eyes. “You’re an idiot,” he said, carding his fingers through the younger lad’s curls.

Harry bit his lip, trying to hold back his own smile. “So you feel the same then?” he asked quietly.

And before he could even see Louis rolling his eyes he felt the older lad’s lips back on his, this time with confidence, with intention.

“Ask me again,” he whispered, his lips lingering on Harry’s before resting their foreheads together.

Harry could feel Louis’ fingers gently massaging the back of his scalp, the older lad’s grin infectious as it reached him. “Do you-”

But Harry couldn’t even finish before it happened again. Louis’ lips pressed against his own, the blue eyed lad smiling against him as they kissed.

“I’d like to think this answers your question,” Louis mumbled against his lips through a small laugh, only to lean back in for more.

And now it was Harry’s turn to smile to himself as he kissed Louis back and pulled him impossibly closer by his middle, his hands gripping at the older lad’s sides.

He could feel Louis’ hand start to travel up from his waist to the small of his back, only to firmly press his palm against him, ensuring no room between them.

Harry let out a quiet breath through his nose, trying to calm himself down as his heart was going a thousand miles a minute. This was Louis kissing him. The same Louis he’s been pining after for weeks, the same Louis he only thought and dreamt about kissing, and now it was happening. His lips moving gently against his own, fingers through his hair and nails digging into the back of his shirt.

But then he felt the older lad move himself on the counter, felt his hips press into his own, making Harry’s breath hitch. And that’s when Louis took his chance. Tasting into the younger lad’s mouth and pulling him in by wrapping his legs around Harry’s waist.

He was completely pressed up against Louis. His crotch, his chest, their arms a tangled mess around each other while they explored each other’s mouths. Harry’s hands all over Louis, just wanting to feel every inch of the older lad. His warm and smooth skin against his hands, gripping at his sides and running fingers through his soft hair, making it a tousled mess.

But then Louis was moving his lips, taking them off of Harry’s and moving to his jaw, nipping at his skin and planting hot kisses along his neck, making the younger lad shudder between his legs.

“Lou,” he says, his voice coming out rough as Louis wrapped his legs tighter around him, pressing their clothed cocks together.

And then Louis was pulling at Harry’s shirt, yanking it up his torso and sucking a deep bruise into his neck. “I need my hands on you now,” he said, getting his hand under the younger lad’s shirt and running his palm over his bare back.

Harry swallowed thickly but nodded as he released his grip on Louis and pulled his shirt over his head. Louis kept his legs wrapped around his waist, but his eyes locked on Harry’s front, just taking him in. But a second later Harry felt Louis’ lips back on his, the older lad lunging at him and kissing him so hungrily he stumbled back, only to grab Louis’ arse with his hands and feeling his back get pushed against the wall.

Louis’ legs wrapped impossibly tighter around his waist, making Harry’s mouth fall open with a low moan, and allowing the older lad an entrance. He squeezed at Louis’ bum, something he’s been dying to get his hands on forever, earning a quiet groan from the older lad before Harry started moving them.

He stumbled out of the bathroom and into his pitch black room, walking over clothes that littered the floor and carrying Louis to his bed. Harry felt his knees press against the mattress and that was when he gently eased the older lad down, slowing the kiss and following Louis onto the middle of the bed.

He hovered over the older lad, Louis’ thighs releasing his waist and allowing Harry to settle one of his legs between them. “Is this alright?” he asked, looking down at their position.

But Louis didn’t say anything. Instead he pulled Harry down by his neck and connected their lips in a soft kiss before arching his hips off the mattress and pressing them into Harry’s, making the younger lad pull away from the kiss and let out a loud groan into Louis’ neck. His breaths coming out in heavy heaves against the older lad’s skin, his heart pounding and mind racing with nothing but Louis.

“Fuck yes, it’s alright,” Louis finally answered before wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck and swinging a leg over Harry’s, successfully managing to get the younger lad on his back, switching their positions.

Harry swallowed thickly as Louis was straddling his hips, him gripping the older lad’s thick thighs, hoping that he could get him out of his shorts soon. And Louis must’ve read his mind as it was even a second later he was pulling off his own shirt and throwing it over the side of the bed, only to attach his lips back onto Harry’s.

He didn’t hesitate before kissing back, running his hands down Louis’ bare back and lightly running his fingernails down the older lad’s spine, making him shudder above Harry. He ran his hand all the way down his back until he reached his arse, grabbing at it again and making their clothed lengths become pressed together.

“Jesus Harry,” Louis breathed into Harry’s neck as he released him from the kiss, only to start circling his hips on top of the younger lad’s, his hands on either side of Harry’s head to steady himself.

It was nothing but that for a minute, just Louis’ hips rolling on top of Harry’s, quiet gasps and moans echoing from the two as he moved. But then he started planting kisses along Harry’s heated skin on his neck, moving his lower half back and forth on the younger lad in slow and gentle movements over his shorts.

Harry arched his back, needing more and making his painfully hard length meet Louis’ in the middle, making both men whimper at the touch. He gripped at the older lad’s bicep, wrapping his hand around his muscled arm and squeezing while his other grabbed at his arse, kneading the skin beneath his shorts with his fingers.

All the while Louis is kissing and nipping at his skin, moving from his jaw to his neck, licking over the mark he created earlier and making Harry jerk his hips up again.

“H-Harry…” Louis stuttered against the younger lad’s skin, only to swallow thickly and let out a few shaky breaths a second later. “I need you,” he barely whispered, “I’m sorry, I need all of you… All of you this second and if I don’t get it I’m gonna lose my mind,” Louis confessed, him shaking his head and breathing deeply into Harry’s neck.

Harry felt his own breathing coming out in heaves as he laid under the older lad. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t one of his day dreams, this was real life Louis wanting him. Half naked Louis on his chest, straddling his thighs and pressing his hips against him. So without wasting another second he reached behind the older lad and gripped at his hair before making their lips crash together.

And Louis was quick to react, more heavy breathing against each other than kissing, but only because the older lad was moving on top of him again, pressing his clothed cock onto his own in shaky circles.

But then Louis was running one of his hands down Harry’s side, leaving it at his waist before he moved himself lower on the younger lad. He pressed kisses into Harry’s sweaty skin along his neck, working towards his chest.

A feeling that had Harry curling his toes at the end of the bed erupted through him, took over his body and had him nearly shaking under the older lad as he went further and further down his body.

He gripped at the sheets under him as he felt Louis hook a finger under his shorts and briefs. The older lad just barely pulling them down to reveal a bit more skin and caressing his lips right next to his hip. So gentle that Harry wasn’t even sure it was happening until Louis pulled his shorts down a bit more and did the same thing, pressing a soft kiss right next to the line of hair that led to his cock.

One hand full of bed sheets while the other was reaching for the older lad’s hair, needing to feel him, needing to hold onto him. And just when Harry’s shorts and briefs were beginning to really get pulled down, just before his length would be set free he felt his thighs, his arms and hands shaking from how Louis was touching him. All from how the older lad was massaging his thumb into his hip while the other began working the rest of his clothes off. His lips following his shorts, moving further and further down him, pressing gentle and lingering kisses into his skin.

“You okay love?” Louis asked quietly, his fingers just barely ghosting over Harry’s side to calm him down.

Harry couldn’t help but let out a whimper at the term. He nodded anyway though and threw his head back against the pillow, knowing that if he kept watching Louis he would unload faster than he wanted to. Instead he gripped at the older lad’s hair again, feeling the cold air reach his sweaty and hot skin as his shorts and briefs were completely pulled off, leaving him bare in front of Louis.

The older lad just looked at him for a second, raked his eyes over his skin, starting at chest and working down. “So fucking gorgeous H, all of you, everything about you,” he muttered, running his hands over Harry’s pecs, tracing the lines between his barely there abs with his fingers.

He could feel his face heating up as Louis looked at him and touched him so gently as if any second he could break. But then he saw the older lad moving, saw him leaning back towards him before ducking his head and carefully connecting their lips.

It was slow, Louis’ nose bumping into Harry’s as he moved their lips against each other’s softly. The younger lad resting his hand on Louis’ waist, only to hook a finger into the blue eyed lad’s shorts and begin to tug them off. Louis had no objections, instead he let out a heavy breath through his nose before licking at Harry’s bottom lip for an entrance and quickly being granted one.

Harry pulled Louis’ shorts down past his thighs, but that was before he reached back up for his briefs and began to tug them down as well, making the older lad’s breath hitch. He felt Louis freeze against him, felt him pull away from the kiss only to rest his forehead against Harry’s chest and breathe heavily.

At first Harry was worried Louis wanted to stop, scared that he decided that this was wrong and that they shouldn’t be doing this. But that was before the older lad reached for his own shorts and briefs and pulled them off in one motion, throwing them with their other discarded clothes on the floor.

“Do you have stuff?” Louis asked, turning back to Harry.

Harry swallowed thickly before nodding at him, “bedside table drawer,” he said, his voice barely coming out in a whisper.

He watched as Louis rolled off him and began rummaging through his drawer, only to find what he was looking for a second later. And as soon as he had it he made his way back over to Harry, placing his hands on either side of his head.

“You okay?” he asked quietly, carding his fingers through the younger lad’s curls. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask you- I mean do you want to? I just kind of-”

Harry could see the worry in Louis’ eyes as he looked down at him, scared that he had taken things too far too quickly. But all the younger lad did was reach for the back of Louis’ head and pull him down slowly until he felt the blue eyed boy’s lips on his.

“I hope this answers your question,” he mumbled through a small smile against Louis’ mouth, only to feel the older lad grinning back at him before attaching their lips again.

He combed his fingers through Louis’ hair and ran his hand down his muscled back before it rested on his bare arse, squeezing gently at his heated skin and earning a moan from the older lad.

He could feel Louis blindly reach for the lube next to him before popping the cap open, but before he squeezed any out Louis reached for the blankets under Harry, only to pull them out from under the younger lad and cover themselves with the thick material.

Harry was already sweating he was so hot, was so overwhelmed, but this would only make it a thousand times worse. But from the way Louis was grinning against him that’s exactly what the older lad wanted.

Louis broke off the kiss just so he could get a decent amount of lube on his fingers, and when they were coated he reached between himself and Harry, and just barely pressed his first finger against the younger lad’s rim.

Harry felt himself go still at Louis’ touch, felt his insides curl and fingers grip at the older lad’s hair as he carefully pressed into him. At the same time Louis was moving himself down Harry’s body, the older lad’s stubbled cheeks scratching at his sensitive skin as he was littering kisses and sucking at his sweaty and sticky skin along his chest, on his hips, and finally reaching his thighs.

Louis’ finger dragging inside him, trying to find his prostate while his other hand gripped his thigh. The blue eyed boy licking his lips before ducking his head and pressing his lips to Harry’s inner thigh, making the younger lad shudder below him. But only a second later was Louis sucking at his skin, and curling his finger inside Harry, making the curly haired lad grip his hair and let out a quiet whimper.

“You alright?” Louis mumbled against his skin.

Harry let out a few deep breaths, one hand lost in Louis’ hair while the other was clutching the bedsheets around him. And just as he was about to answer he felt Louis curve his finger just right.

“Fuck, fuck, f-fuck,” he stuttered out, gripping the older lad’s hair impossibly tighter and arching his back off the bed, trying to get Louis to hit it again. “Again, again, d-do it again, right there.”

So Louis did it again, making the younger lads jaw fall open and a low moan escape him.

Harry was a second away from letting it all go, a second away from losing it. This was Louis who was fingering him, stretching him open and leaving soft kisses all over his skin. And because it was Louis that had Harry shaking, had him whimpering, moaning and shuddering at every little thing he did.

“L-Louis,” he stuttered out as the older lad pushed a second finger in him.

And it was only a second later Louis moved himself back up Harry, keeping his fingers in the younger lad and trying to hit his bundle of nerves again. “You’re shaking love, are you okay?”

“Just kiss me,” Harry said, needing to feel the older lad’s lips on his, needing to know he was really there.

Louis looked down at him for a moment, his hair falling into his eyes and sweat collecting on his forehead, but he dipped his head and kissed the younger lad anyway. Soft and slow as he pressed his fingers into him while Harry scratched his fingernails down his back and gripped at his hair.

And he continued kissing him until he had three fingers inside Harry, but at this point the younger lad didn’t want to only be touched, he want to touch. He wanted to feel Louis, to know every inch of him, every dip, and curve the older lad had.

Harry ran his hands all over Louis’ body. Down his back, over his arms and squeezing his thighs, marvelling at how muscular and thick he was.

But when he reached between them and carefully wrapped his fingers around Louis’ cock the older lad let out a loud whimper and a second later his elbows broke below him, making his slick chest collide with Harry’s.

“S-shit,” he breathed into the younger lad’s neck, his fingers pausing inside Harry for a moment. And when Harry thumbed over his tip, wiping the bit of precome there the older lad went completely still, a low groan escaping him. “F-fuck Harry,” Louis mumbled against his skin.

“Exactly, fuck Harry,” the younger lad said, breathing out a quiet laugh before releasing the older lad’s length and reaching around for the condom.  “So put this thing on and please for the love of God get on with it,” he said, shoving the little package at Louis’ chest.

At that Louis picked his head off of Harry and looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Only if you ask nicely.”

Harry doesn’t know how they went from something so intimate to this, but then again it was them and Louis would take any opportunity he had to tease him. Even if they were a second away from doing it.

“Louis, babe, love,” Harry said, cupping the older lad’s cheek gently and running his thumb over his stubbled skin. “Would please put this fucking condom on and get in me?” he asked softly.

“Aw Harry,” Louis said through a small smile, only to lean forward and peck the curly haired lad’s lips. “Of course love, only for you.”

Harry rolled his eyes and muttered a “finally”, only to receive a playfully pointed look from Louis as he rolled the condom down his length. But that was just before the older lad’s eyes darkened a bit, going wide and started breathing heavily onto Harry’s chest as he gripped himself.

“A-are you sure you’re ready?” he breathed out, letting go of his cock and resting both of his hands by Harry’s head to steady himself. “I can stretch you out a bit more. I don’t want to hurt you or-”

“Louis.”

“...Right, yeah, okay,” Louis nodded, seeing Harry’s face and knowing he was more than ready.

Harry gripped at Louis’ waist as he saw the older lad begin to align himself, and just as he felt the tip of Louis’ cock push into him he dug his nails into the blue eyed boy’s skin.

“Are you okay?” Louis asked quickly, stopping where he as.

“M’fine,” Harry said, biting his lip and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Harry no, if you’re hurt say something,” Louis shook his head, brushing his fingers through younger lad’s curls and pressing a soft kiss on his nose, moving to his cheek and then forehead, wanting him to be relaxed.

Harry let out a few deep breaths, trying to get used to Louis and he wasn’t even half way in yet. The older lad was just so thick, thicker than Harry had ever seen or experienced so it was going to take a little bit to get used to.

“I’m okay,” he reassured him. “Just go slow.”

Harry could see Louis watching him for a moment, seeing if he was really okay. “You can tell me stop whenever,” Louis said quietly. “Just please say something if you don’t want to do this anymore, or you get uncomfortable, or it starts hurting or something.”

“Louis…” Harry said softly, reaching his hand up and gently running it through the older lad’s sweaty hair. He opened his mouth to say something but Louis beat him to it.

“Just promise me,” he barely whispered. “I want to make you feel good, I want to do everything I can to make you happy… But I can’t do that if I think I’m gonna hurt you.”

Harry was at a bit of a loss of how the older lad was talking to him. Never, not once has any person he’s ever slept with cared this much about how he felt, or getting him off being the number one priority. And this was just one more thing that the older lad did that made his stomach flip, made his toes curls and made a small blush creep onto his cheeks.

“I promise,” he said quietly.

He knew that Louis believed him when he saw the older lad smiling softly down at him before dipping his head and brushing their lips together slowly. And without disconnecting their lips Louis began to very slowly push inside Harry, waiting for any indication from the younger lad to have him stop.

Harry had to break away from the kiss as he got used to Louis, the older lad’s thick cock stretching him open much more than his three fingers had and sending a deep sting up his backside. He felt Louis kissing him all over his face, trying to get him to relax and make it easier. But this was Louis pushing into him, and just at that Harry was having a hard time keeping himself together.

“C’mon love it’s okay, relax,” Louis said softly, at this point completely in but with Harry clenching around him.

But Harry was so overwhelmed it felt near impossible to relax. He felt Louis everywhere. His fingers were combing through his curls, their legs tangled and chests pressed together, their sweat and breaths mixing, the heat radiating off them and staying consumed in the blanket covering them. It was too much.

But then Louis leaned down and kissed him, probably seeing how worked up he was getting and wanting to calm him down. And almost immediately Harry melted into it. Louis’ lips gentle against his own, his fingers massaging his scalp while the other hand ran up and down his side. And Harry couldn’t help but cup Louis’ cheeks between his hands and move his lips with the older lad’s.

It was a second later he felt Louis move though. His length dragging inside him as he slowly pulled out, only to softly push back in, earning a gasp out of Harry.

“You okay?” Louis asked, pulling away from the kiss and running his fingers through the younger lad’s sweaty curls.

“More,” Harry whispered, closing his eyes and trying to control his breathing,

Louis nodded, placing both hands by Harry’s head to keep himself in place before pulling out more, the younger lad already arching his back, wanting Louis to hit him just right. And a second later the older lad snapped his hips forward quickly, making Harry bite his lip to keep in a moan.

Above him Louis letting out a long deep breath, his arms shaking as the younger lad dug his heels into his legs, his fingers gripping his hip so hard it would leave bruises while the other hand scratched down his back.

So again he pulled away, only to grip at the mattress under his palms,trying to steady himself before he thrusted back in.

“F-fuck Lou,” Harry groaned, digging his nails into Louis’ back.

Louis let out a few deep breaths before dipping his head and pressing his lips to Harry’s own panting mouth, and ground into him slow and deep at first. With each thrust the younger lad whimpering against him, their kiss becoming sloppy as Louis moved on top of him.

Louis couldn’t help the high pitched sound escaping him as he began to grind faster into the younger lad, snapping back only push right back in with force. His hair falling into his eyes, brushing against Harry’s forehead while the younger lad’s trembling lips kissed him.

With each thrust Harry felt like Louis’ cock was going deeper and deeper, the older lad shaking above him, sweat dripping from his forehead to his chin.

“God Harry…” Louis breathed against him, before breaking the kiss all together, still pounding into him while he leaned his head against the younger lad’s temple. “Been wanting to do this for so long.”

“Tell me,” Harry said, his voice tight in his throat. “How long?” he asked, squeezing his eyes shut, Louis sucking a wet kiss into his neck.

“Since I first fucking saw you,” Louis whispered, gently nipping at Harry’s ear, making him jerk under him. “You opened the door and-” he sucked in a deep breath, his arms about to break under him. “Just so fucking gorgeous, j-just so good Haz,”

“F-fuck Lou,”  he stuttered out, Louis’ thrusts getting faster, him panting against his neck.

He clenched his eyes shut, Louis sucking at his sweaty skin below his jaw, the older lad groaning into his neck while Harry let out a whimper with every thrust.

“Oh God,” Harry gasped, his nails digging into Louis’ back. “M’gonna come.”

“Go ahead love,” Louis whispered, his hand snaking between them and wrapping his fingers around Harry’s cock, making the younger lad tremble and shake under him.

Harry whined under him, his back arching against the mattress and head thrown back against his pillow. “Louis, L-Louis,” he cried out, the older lad running his thumb of the tip of his length. “I-I… Fuck, Lou,” Harry gasped, wherever he was holding Louis leaving bruises on his hips, arse, thighs, and scratches just from the younger lad’s fingers and hands kneading into him.

Louis’ breathing coming out in heaves against Harry’s sweaty skin, the air sticky and wet under the blanket. He closed his eyes shut only to feel the room spinning with every grind into the younger lad.

“H-Harry please,” he panted. “P-please come… F-fuck, for me, please,” Louis begged, his pace quickening, his hand jerking Harry’s cock before he messily pressed their lips together.

Harry was falling apart under the older lad, sweat dripping from his forehead as he kissed Louis back, accepting his tongue into his mouth even while he was trembling. He felt Louis cradle his cheek, still pressing into him and pumping his length sloppily, but when the older lad moved his hand to his hair it only took a slight tug before he was coming fast and hard into Louis hand.

His lips shaking against Louis’ while the older lad’s hips started to slow, only for him to shoot into the condom a second later with a high pitched whine coming from the back of his throat.

Harry kissed him through it, ran his fingers through the back of his sweaty hair gently and ran his hand up and down his side until the older lad relaxed against him. And when he released Louis the older lad’s lips lingered on his own before he kissed his nose and began panting against his sticky and slick chest.

“Fuck…” Louis breathed out after he pulled out of the younger lad, his head resting over Harry’s pounding heart.

Harry swallowed thickly under him, his hand caressing over the markings he left on Louis’ back. “Did you mean it?” he asked so quietly it almost came out as a whisper, making the older lad pick his head up off him. “Did you mean that you liked me from the start?” Harry asked, biting his lip.

Louis looked back at him for a moment, only to roll off him and scootch towards the edge of the bed. He threw the condom in the waste basket, and Harry thought that was all Louis was doing, but then he reached for something else.

Harry watched him with furrowed eyebrows, only to feel his heart drop as he saw the older lad pick up his clothes. “W-what are you doing?” he asked, his voice tight.

But Louis didn’t answer him. Instead he kept his back to Harry, picking up his shorts off the floor.

Harry wanted to scream, he wanted to pick something up and chuck it at the older lad for doing this to him, but that was before he saw Louis toss him his phone over his shoulder, making it land next to him on the bed.

“Louis what the fuck are you doing?”

A second later though Harry saw his phone light up next to him, and when he looked up he saw Louis smiling to himself as he crawled back over to him on the bed.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the phone as he picked it up, only to see a Twitter notification that Louis tagged him in something. He looked back to the older lad, only to see him nodding at the phone, and so Harry slid his finger across the illuminated screen and opened the app.

And the first thing he saw was Louis’ name at the top of his screen.

**@Louis_Tomlinson: Always in my heart @Harry_Styles.**

Harry bit his lip to keep back a grin as he looked up from his phone and to Louis, able to see the slight blush on the older lad’s cheeks from his phone’s light. He let out an airy laugh before shielding his screen from Louis’ sight, confusing him for only a second before his own phone lit up.

**@Harry_Styles: @Louis_Tomlinson since day one ?**

And when Louis was done reading it he caught the older lad’s eye for a moment as he let out a quiet laugh.

**@Louis_Tomlinson: @Harry_Styles since day one. X**

Harry could barely finish reading it before he felt Louis swoop in and capture his lips with his own, making a small smile creep onto his lips as he carded his fingers through the older lad’s hair.

“Sorry for giving you the mini heart attack,” Louis said through a chuckle as he laid Harry back down and rested his head on the younger lad’s shoulder.

“Seriously thought you were leaving,” Harry said quietly, watching as Louis made random shapes on his chest with his finger.

“I would never.”

And as Louis tipped his head up Harry looked down, knowing the older lad wanted him to kiss him. So he smiled down at blue eyed lad before leaning down and brushing his lips over Louis’, liking the idea of the older lad never leaving.

Harry fell asleep to the feeling of Louis' soft breath against his neck, the older lad's arm draped over him as he ran a hand up and down Louis' semi scratched back. He fell asleep to being held tightly by Louis, feeling like he couldn't breathe, but in the best way possible, in a way he didn't believe existed. His skin littered with goosebumps wherever the older lad was touching him, except for where his lips laid by his neck, the feeling immediately warming him. Harry's heart pounding against Louis' own and the feeling had Harry want to melt.

All of it at once, all of it was Louis, and Harry was never going to let it go.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry looked down at his fingers sprawled out over his guitar neck, making sure they were each on the fret they needed to be as his right hand picked at the strings. His eyes focused on what he was doing like they had been all morning.

Around 4 am he had one of his “need to get into the studio now” moments and managed to detangle his limbs from Louis’, the older lad softly snoring to himself as Harry pulled a pair of shorts on and tiptoed out of the room. But because he had had gone to the studio he had a song written and now that he just had to record it Harry placed his guitar down, and just as he was about to get up and go back to Louis he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him.

“Goodmorning love.”

Harry smiled to himself as he heard the older lad and felt him press his lips to his neck. He turned himself around in Louis’ arms, resting his hands on his waist and seeing him wearing a pair of his shorts and his hair everywhere

“I was hoping to wake up next to you, what happened? Is everything okay?” Louis asked, running his hands down Harry’s bare shoulder until they rested on his biceps.

“Everythings great,” Harry said through a soft smile. “I’m sorry, I was just about to go back to the room, but I came in here last night cause I had an idea for a song and I guess I just lost track of time.”

Louis raised his eyebrows at him, a small grin reaching his lips as he squeezed his arms gently. “Wanna show it to me?” he asked.

Harry bit his lip but nodded anyway. Louis already knew how he felt, it wasn’t a big deal if he listened to the song. “Sure, uhm here you can uh, just read them while I sing if you want,” he said, passing the older lad his lyrics.

“[Firefly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JigjU373SKY),” Louis read off the top of the page, his grin widening. “This better be about me since you left me this morning,” he teased, pulling up a stool and sitting next to the younger lad.

Harry wanted to roll his eyes and say of course it was about him, but instead he just reached for his guitar and settled it on his leg before placing his hands where they needed to be. And as he started playing, his fingers picking at the strings in a smooth rhythm he felt Louis’ eyes lock on him.

The older lad had the paper in his hands, but refusing to look at it as he was just focusing on Harry, listening to what he was singing and playing. And the further he got into it the more Louis was smiling, the harder he was trying to keep back a blush.

But Harry saw it spread across the older lad’s face, saw him biting his lip and ducking his head. And just at that Harry felt his own cheeks heating up as he sang and finished playing out the song.

It was quiet for a moment after he was done. Harry just placed his guitar in it’s stand before chancing a glance over at Louis, only to find the older lad crowding into his space and then cupping his cheeks between his hands.

Harry melted into the kiss, thinking that he would never get used to the feeling of Louis’ mouth on his own. Would never get used to his thin, soft lips pressing against his, their noses bumping together and the deep breaths exchanged between them as he was in the older lad’s arms.

“So do you two wanna tell me how you’re not sleeping together again?”

Harry and Louis broke apart, the older lad nearly jumping a foot away from him as they looked towards the door and saw Niall leaning against it with raised eyebrows and his arms crossed over his chest.

But then Harry’s eyes shifted to the person next to him. “...Gemma?” he asked surprised, but more so confused.

“You’re sleeping with the songwriter?!”

Harry opened and closed his mouth, his eyes shifting from Gemma, to Niall and then to Louis who was standing there with beet red cheeks. “Uhm w-why are you here? Not that I’m not like happy to see you, but-”

“Niall was worried about you, he flew me down here,” Gemma filled in quickly before her eyes shifted to the half naked man standing next to her brother. “So… You’re sleeping with the songwriter?” she asked, going back to her original question.

“Well… I mean, that’s not like- that’s not your business,” Harry said quietly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Actually it is,” Niall said, stepping further into the room and passing the younger magazines and newspapers Harry didn’t even see in his hands earlier. “You two are all over the news, top trending on Twitter, and every pap in the bloody fucking world is looking for you.”

Harry felt his jaw go slack as he looked over what Niall passed him. Louis walked over to him and read over his shoulder, his own body going still as he read the headlines. They were talking about a gay scandal, Harry’s mystery boyfriend, the Twitter guy that stole the popstars heart and every single one of the articles had copies of their tweets to each other from last night, one magazine in particular having a picture of them walking through the park, their hands noticeable just enough to see that they were joined between them. They had “exclusive interviews” with fans that met the pair, saying they were flirty and couldn’t keep their eyes off each other when they met them. Some of the articles were good, more than half of them bad, and the fair few that just gave details without stating their opinion on the matter.

Harry tried to calm down, he tried not to scream as he stood up, knowing everyone in the room was waiting for his reaction. But the only reaction he had was to the throw everything he had in his hands against the wall, making the papers fly everywhere.

Harry combed his fingers through his hair and started pacing the room as he thought about what this meant. With the media saying more bad things than good on the situation that meant he had to do damage control. He had to see the fan’s reactions and if they were good then that was great. But if not then he was screwed. With this album coming out and the tour coming up he wouldn’t make sales. People would sell their tickets, not buy the album and quickly and successfully end his career.

One second things were great, perfect even. It was everything Harry was hoping for, had dreamt about for weeks, and in mere seconds it was stripped away from him.

“Louis there’s a car waiting downstairs to take you home,” Niall said quietly.

Both Louis and Harry’s heads snapped up, the younger lad squaring his eyes at his manager. “You’re not sending him home, are you crazy?”

“Harry we have serious work to do. We need to talk about what we’re gonna do about this situation.”

“Okay but this concerns him, he needs to be here,” Harry said, raising his voice slightly at the older lad. “You can’t just send him out there, people will be looking for him!”

“Harry this is your career,” Niall said sternly. “Right now we’re focusing on you, and we need make a plan for damage control and at the same time keep promo up for your album and tour.”

Harry wished he had more papers in his hands just so he could throw them in Niall’s face. He wanted to scream at the older lad and just as he was about to open his mouth to do so he felt a gentle hand on his back.

“It’s fine Harry,” Louis said quietly, shaking his head as he rubbed small circles in the younger lad’s skin. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay.  Just do what Niall needs you to do first.”

“Louis I’m not letting you go out there,” Harry said, his own voice strained. He knew how bad it could get when paps and fans were looking for you, their sole purpose to find you and ask questions, take pictures, just do anything they could, even if it meant pushing and shoving each other to get what they wanted.

“There are bodyguards down there, he’ll be fine Haz.”

Harry looked over to Niall, gritting his teeth, and if the older lad said one more thing he was going to hit him.

But Louis just nodded, taking his hand off of Harry’s back and offering him a tight lined smile. “I’m just gonna go change.”

Harry opened and closed his mouth as he saw Louis make his way towards the door, only to stop in front of his sister.

“Hi, m’Louis,” he introduced himself quietly, shaking her hand. “Harry’s told me loads about you.”

“Gemma,” she said, offering him a small smile back. “And I’m pretty sure I know everything about you because of that one,” Gemma said nodding towards her brother.

Louis let out a small laugh, clearly one that was a little too forced, considering the situation. He nodded at her once and shifted his gaze to Niall, only to drop his head and silently walk out of the room.

“Fuck H, you never told me how hot he was,” Gemma said, shaking her head once Louis wasn’t in ear shot.

Harry rolled his eyes, more than sure that he had, but that wasn’t important right now. Instead he turned his attention to Niall. “Are you fucking crazy trying to send him home?” he asked angered.

“Harry we need to talk without him here, that’s that. You can kick, scream, whine, I don’t care but he’s going.”

“What the fuck is the matter with you?!” Harry yelled, his eyes going wide. “This past month you’ve been nothing but a dick, and now this!”

“Harry this is your career and frankly I’m the only one who seem to care about it!!” Niall screamed back frustratedly. “I’ve been doing nothing but promo for your tour, for your album, organizing tour dates and everything that comes along with it while you fuck around with Louis and not write the album that I’ve been trying so hard to-”

“Niall most of the album is written and recorded! And I’m sorry that doing your job, doing promo, tour dates all of that, you know, what’s in your job description is so god damn difficult!” Harry said, sarcasm filling his voice.

“In a month Harry!! This is all getting done in a month when normally it takes half a fucking year!”

“And how do you think it is writing an album in a month?!” Harry retorted back and just as he was about to continue his screaming he saw Louis standing in the doorway, having no clue how long he’s been there. And not only that but he hadn’t noticed that his sister left the room as well. “Louis…” he said quietly, only to see the older lad shake his head and walk down the hall.

Harry felt the air leave his lungs as he saw Louis walk away. But then he rushed after the older lad, shoving Niall out of his way and jogging down the hall until he caught up with Louis in the living room.

“Louis, I’m sorry, just wait,” he rushed out, reaching for the older lad’s arm, trying to keep him from walking away. “Don’t listen to anything he says, please, he’s just being a dick.”

“Harry stop, it’s fine,” Louis said quietly, refusing to meet the younger lad’s eyes. “I’m just gonna go.”

Harry ran his hand over his face, this not being fine, not in the slightest. “At least let me walk you down.”

Louis bit his lip but nodded anyway before turning back towards the door, and saying a quiet goodbye to Gemma who was watching them.

Harry let out a quiet breath and looked at his sister as well, seeing her look right back at him sadly before he followed after Louis. He was able to catch up with the older lad halfway down the hall and when they got to the lift Louis still refused to look at him.

Even when they got into the lift and were three quarters of the way down. Harry glanced over at him, Louis' eyes were trained on the floor. And Harry thought he had nothing to lose, thought no harm would happen if he reached for Louis’ hand and intertwined their fingers, only to feel the older lad squeeze his hand gently.

The lift doors opened and he felt Louis let out a deep breath before he softly tugged on his hand and walked into the lobby, only to immediately see paps and fans covering the door. And as soon as Harry saw the mass of people outside, them pushing and shoving each other just to see inside, and cameras everywhere he pulled Louis back.

“I don’t care what Niall says, you’re not going,” he said, keeping Louis’ hand firm in his.

Louis opened his mouth, clearly about to protest before two very large men he recognized approached them.

“Harry Niall told us to come get him,” Mark said, gesturing to Louis. “We’ll walk him out, it’s fine.”

“We even have Paul already at the door. With the three of us he’ll be alright,” Alberto said, trying to reassure him.

Harry looked between the two, shaking his head, not wanting to leave Louis. “Can I walk him to the car?” he asked quietly. “I just need to know he makes it okay.”

And this time Louis didn’t try to stop him, his bodyguards though seemed a bit more weary, but even they agreed to it.

“You know the drill. Head down and don’t stop walking,” Mark said, looking between the two, earning nods from them. “Once he’s in the car I’ll walk you back in H.”

And Harry just nodded before releasing Louis’ hand, only to wrap an arm around his waist, seeing the older lad’s face start to fill with worry, like he was scared to go outside. So Harry squeezed his hip gently and pulled him into his side before placing a gentle kiss on the older lad’s temple.

The two bodyguards got on either side of them, walking the pair towards the door. And when they pushed the doors open everyone outside went into a frenzy. There were camera flashes blinding them, people were shoving and pushing to see them, screams heard from every direction, some cursing at them while others were requesting pictures and autographs, and the entire time Harry kept his head down and shielded Louis’ face with his hands as the older lad tucked his head into his neck.

Mark and Alberto had their arms up, making it harder for people to reach for them, but still Harry felt a few tugs on his shirt, and some even grabbed Louis, making the older lad stumble forward in the crowd. And Harry just wanted to get Louis to the car, wanted to get him out of there. They could pull, take pictures and yell at him all they wanted, but not Louis, he didn’t deserve that.

When they did make it to the car Paul quickly opened the door for Louis and pushed people back as Harry made sure he got in.

“Are you okay?” he asked a bit breathlessly as he leaned into the car.

Louis nodded, his own breathing coming out slow and heavy. “I’m fine,” he said quietly, settling into the car.

Harry wished he could apologize, wished none of this was happening to them. But no matter how many times he said he was sorry it would never be enough, not to make up for what was going on.

“I’ll call you later okay? If you want after Niall leaves I can stop by your place,” he said, biting his lip and hoping that Louis would say he could.

And when the older lad nodded Harry let out a relieved breath before leaning further into the car and capturing Louis’ lips with his own.

This kiss felt different though. It was like Louis was kissing him as if they never would again, as if they only had seconds left together. And when the older lad pulled away Harry couldn’t help but see the usual spark in Louis’ eyes completely gone.

Just as he was about to say something to the older lad though he felt a tug on his arm, only to turn around and see Mark nodding towards his building, wanting to get him back inside and out of the crowd.

“I’ll see you later,” Harry said quietly just before backing out of the car, just barely able to see Louis nod at him.

And when Mark placed his hand on his lower back, trying to get him to walk Harry was sure the screams from the crowd around him were louder, was sure that there were more camera flashes than he’s ever experienced. So he kept his head down and with the help of Mark was able to get inside quickly enough. And once he was standing in his building’s lobby Harry looked back towards the doors, only to see the car that Louis was in gone.

He let out a deep breath, combing his fingers through his hair as he got into the lift and went back upstairs to now deal with Niall.

Harry walked down the hall and into his flat, only to see the older lad and sister sitting on the couch and talking quietly. “What’s the plan then? Do we know how the fans are reacting?” he asked, wanting to get right to it and just be done with Niall.

Niall looked up at him, releasing his own deep breath before shoving his face in his hands. “Fans are supportive, most of them anyway,” he said quietly. “The ones who aren’t are just sending Louis some hate, asking how someone like him got with you, but that’s about it with them.”

“What do you mean sending him hate? Like over Twitter or something?” Harry asked quickly.

“Yeah,” Niall nodded, his voice just barely coming out. “It really isn’t that bad, I mean, most people are supportive at least. Those people in the articles were just being arses.”

“They can say whatever they want about me, or even to me for all I care, but not him,” Harry said, starting to pace his living room. “Niall just tell me what to do, how can I stop this?” he groaned into his hands.

“You can’t stop it H,” Niall said softly.

“Well just diffuse it,” Gemma said, turning to the Irish lad, hating to see her little brother like this. “Does he have to do an interview, go on camera, give a statement or maybe Louis give a statement to the press?”

Niall let out a stress filled laugh, only to rub his hands over his face again and groan. “As of right now I say we do nothing. Let the media and the fans talk about it for a day or two, we’ll let them adjust a bit and after that we’ll gauge where they are and go from there,” he said quietly.

“But what about Louis?” Harry asked, still pacing the living room. “I can’t just do nothing while they’re all being awful to him.”

“It’s not even a quarter of your fans, maybe a sixth at most,” Niall said not wanting him to worry about it.

“He shouldn’t be getting any, he didn’t do anything,” Harry muttered.

Niall released a deep breath, trying to think of what to do. “Maybe we can use this to our advantage,” he said getting an idea. “Your name is everywhere, there isn’t a single person who won’t be talking about you today, and if we get you and Louis to go out in public, maybe to dinner or just anything, we can get more coverage of you two, get the public used to seeing you and at the same time they’ll mention your album and tour coming up.”

Harry stopped in the middle of his living room, turning his entire body so he could face his manager. “I’m not using Louis for publicity.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that one Ni,” Gemma agreed, shaking her head.

“No, no, this can really work,” Niall said quickly, pushing himself off the couch. “We’ll talk to Louis about it, see if we can get you two out on the city, and with your name being out there as much as it will be sales will shoot up. People who’ve never heard of you will know exactly who you are by the end of today.”

“Niall stop!!” Harry said annoyed, “just stop for one second and not worry about sales, not worry about the tour or the album and worry about me, how I feel, how Louis feels!”

Niall stood there for a moment, his mouth open but nothing coming out.

“This past month it’s been nothing but sales and rushing to get the album done, and only one time, just once did you ask how I was doing,” Harry said quietly.

Niall bit his lip, his eyes shifting to the floor as he ran a hand over his face. “It’s just… This is all my fault. I signed you up with this record company and they’re turning everything into shit giving us these deadlines and I didn’t want to be the reason for the end of your career, I wanted everything to work out for you.”

As Harry listened to the older lad he understood that Niall was trying to make up for the mistake he made years ago. Basically finding this record company, the first one that wanted him and telling him to sign with them. But ever since Harry signed that contract it’s been nothing but stress, tours and more promo than he ever thought imaginable.

“I’ll talk to Louis about maybe going out and see what he thinks,” Harry  breathed out. “I just want all of this to blow over.”

Niall nodded, his eyes still not reaching the younger lad’s. “And I’m sorry Harry… For everything.”

And Harry didn’t say anything, instead he walked towards his best mate and wrapped his arms around him. Niall of course was quick to hug him back, making Harry smile to himself, and he did so even more when he could hear his sister awwing from the couch.

*~*

Harry kept his head down and his arms close to his sides. His sunglasses resting on his nose to make the flashing lights seem not as bright, but still with the amount of them going off at once it was enough to make his eyes see stars.

Even in front of Louis’ building there was a crowd of people. Less here than at his building, but still enough where it was hard to squeeze through the mass and get to the door. With Mark’s help though Harry did manage to reach the door, not without cameras and phones being shoved in his face or what felt like a million people screaming in his ear.

When he got inside the building Harry told Mark he could wait in the lobby before heading towards the lift. He vaguely remembers Louis telling him that he lived on the third floor and thought it was maybe number 18 he lived in. Harry’s never been to Louis’ flat, only knew that he shared it with Liam and Zayn.

He walked out of the lift once he was on the third floor, looking left and right down the hall until he saw what door he thought was Louis’. And when he knocked on the door it was only a second later it opened, only for Liam and Zayn to be standing there, nearly scowling.

“What did you do to him?” Zayn asked, narrowing his eyes at the curly haired lad.

“He locked himself in the bloody music room and now refuses to get out, but we can hear him play every single sad classical song known to man on the piano. You seriously fucked up,” Liam said, his words coming out so fast Harry could barely keep up.

But Harry didn’t say anything, instead he let out a deep breath and pushed himself into the flat. He looked around the small living room, only to see a doorway leading to a hallway and he figured this so called music room would be behind one of these doors.

“Louis!” he called out, opening each door and peaking his head inside. But when Harry reached the door that was locked he knew this had to be the one the older lad was in.

He could hear Louis [playing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59nAovgXpVk) on the other side of the door. Could hear the piano and it’s slow drawl, Louis’ voice just barely audible over it.

Harry looked down at the door knob, trying to figure out how to get it unlocked and thankfully enough it was one of the easier ones to get undone by just pressing a small button. He could hear Liam and Zayn come down the hallway, clearly about to stop him before Harry shoved the tip of his own key in the slight hole in the knob, only for the door to open a second later.

And even when Harry walked into the room Louis was still playing. He walked over to the older lad carefully, not wanting to startle him, and when he saw Louis he noticed his eyes closed, his fingers dancing over the keys and his foot pressing the pedal of the piano. The older lad’s voice coming out smooth before he got louder with the instrument.

Harry watched Louis, and listened to this song that made him want to cry just from hearing it. And he couldn’t help but think that he had done this to Louis, that he had made him this upset, that he had hurt him. And when Louis finished he heard the older lad let out a deep breath, taking his hands away from the piano but keep his eyes down.

“What are you doing here Harry?” he asked quietly.

“I said I’d come over,” Harry said just as softly as he sat beside Louis on the piano bench. “I called you a bunch of times and texted you, you never answered.”

Louis bit his lip, his eyes shifting to something on top of the piano.

Harry followed his gaze, only to feel his jaw go slack as he saw Louis’ cracked and mangled phone.

“I threw it against the wall,” Louis muttered, his eyes locking on his hands in his lap. “I just… I didn’t like reading everything, they were- they just- I-I-”

Harry wrapped his arms around the older lad, Louis not even wasting a second before tucking his head into his neck and hugging him back. It was then he heard Liam and Zayn shuffle away down the hall, grateful they left and that they gave them some privacy.

“I’m so sorry Louis,” Harry barely breathed out. “This was never supposed to happen, not like this.”

“It’s all my fault,” Louis whispered, pulling away from the younger lad and hiding his face in his hands. “I sent that tweet, I took your hand when that guy was taking pictures of us, I-I ruined your career.”

“No, no!!” Harry rushed out, shaking his head. “You didn’t, I swear you didn’t! Niall thinks we can actually use this to our advantage.”

“How?”

“Well we can do this if you want, it’s up to you,” he said quietly. “Ni wants us to go out, kinda like going public, just to dinner or something. He says it’ll get the media and fans used to seeing us together, maybe calm them down a bit. Plus it’ll spread word about the tour and album, making people who aren’t already fans interested. He also suggested that maybe we can release one of the songs that we’ve recorded. Kind of like  a single so the public can hear what we’ve been working on.”

Louis sat there silent for a moment, and every second that passed had Harry worrying more and more that the older lad would tell him to just get out, that he didn’t want to do this. But instead he saw Louis nod and say a quiet “okay”.

“I just uhm, I just have one question,” Louis said quietly, scratching the back of his neck. “Is this just for publicity? I mean I don’t… I can’t play pretend...”

“Of course not,” Harry barely whispered, shaking his head. “Louis I… It sounds crazy cause we’ve only know each other for a couple weeks and everything is just happening so fast, but I want to be with you,” he said softly. “I want to be able to take you on stupid walks through the park and hold your hand whenever I want. I want to roast marshmallows over candles and run through the rain with you, and protect you from scary monsters on the tv,” Harry said, earning a few quiet laughs out of the older lad. “I just… I want to be yours and I want you to be mine.”

“Are you gonna take me on dates too? And kiss me whenever you want?” Louis asked, his voice slightly teasing.

Harry felt a wide grin creep onto his lips as he heard the older lad and nodded at him.

For so long he was terrified to tell Louis how he felt and what he was thinking. But now he felt like he could tell the older lad exactly how he was feeling, only to find out that he felt the same. And Harry didn’t think he’d ever get used to the idea that this man in front of him wanted him the exact same way, wanted the same things he did.

He spent all afternoon talking to Gemma, having her prepare him for the worst and it turns out it wasn’t even needed. The hours his sister spent trying to stop him from pacing the living room and calm him down were nothing but a waste of time. Harry was more than grateful Niall called her though. It had been far too long since he’d seen her and especially now he needed someone like Gemma to keep his head on straight and make sure he doesn’t freak out.

“So what do we do now? You said Niall was thinking about releasing a song?”

“Uhm yeah. He said he wants to do Fall because the media and fans will probably assume I wrote it about you and give them even a little bit more insight without us having to say anything. Plus it’ll show them what kind of feel the album will have.”

Louis nodded, letting out a small breath as he combed his fingers through his hair. “Do you think it’ll stop?” he asked quietly. “After we do all of this do you think people will stop, like…”

Harry knew exactly what Louis was trying to ask, and when he shook his head he saw the older lad’s face fall. “It never stops Lou. The shit people say, it’ll never go away, I still get it on a daily basis. It won’t be happening nearly as much, but when it does happen ignore it. You already have a good chunk of the fans fawning more over you than me.”

“They don’t even know we’re working together though, do they?” Louis asked with furrowed eyebrows, making Harry shake his head. “Oh that’ll be fun when they find out and hear the album.”

“They’re gonna think a pair of teenage girls wrote it.”

“Wouldn’t blame them if they did.”

Harry laughed to himself ducking his head to hide his smile. But then he felt his chin get picked right back up, Louis making him look at him for a split second before he leaned forward and connected their lips gently.

He could feel the older lad hesitant at first, careful, before Harry kissed back and wrapped his arms around Louis’ middle, making sure there was no room between them on the small bench.

“We’re alright?” Louis asked, his lips lingering on the younger lad’s as he pulled away.

“We’re better than alright,” Harry said through a small smile, only to close the distance between them and press his lips to Louis’.

*~*

“Babe you almost ready?” Harry asked, knocking on his bathroom door. Louis has been in there for a half hour and Harry was pretty sure all he was doing was his hair.

“I’ll be out in a sec!” Louis said, clearly struggling with something. “You can go in the living room, it’s fine!”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, it sounding like the older lad was really having a problem with something. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, leaning closer to the door, ready to open it.

“Fine, fine! All is more than fine!”

All did not sound fine from the ruckus coming from the other side of the door, but Harry made his way out of his bedroom anyway.

“Hey baby bro, the princess almost ready?” Gemma asked as she saw him come into the living room.

Harry rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto his lips. “Yeah, I think he’ll be out any minute… And he’s not a princess.”

“Haz he takes more time on his hair and complaining about it longer than it takes me to get ready completely.” Gemma said, grinning back at her little brother. “But I mean he is really hot, just imagine what he’ll look like all dressed up,” she hummed and nodded to herself at the thought of it.

“Hey, yeah, okay, he’s mine, not yours,” Harry said, taking Gemma out of dreamland.

“You look great too,” Gemma said quickly eyeing her brother in his suit and bowtie with his hair all done. “I mean I’ve seen you at award shows and not even those compare to this,” she said motioning up and down Harry’s body.

And again all Harry could do was roll his eyes at Gemma before he looked down at his outfit and made sure everything was orderly. Just as he was running his hand over his dress shirt and straightened his bowtie out he heard someone walk into the room.

Harry turned around and was immediately met with the sight of Louis in his suit, and as he raked his eyes over the older lad he couldn’t help but let out a small giggle.

“It’s not funny,” Louis whined. “I seriously spent a half hour trying to figure this stupid thing out,” he said, pulling off the tie that was messily wrapped around his neck.

Harry pressed his lips together, trying his hardest to muffle his laughter but it was impossible with the Louis pouting and looking like a sad puppy.

“Here Lou, I’ll tie it for you,” Gemma said, pushing herself off the couch and walking towards him.

Louis let out a huff but passed her the tie anyway and stretched out his neck a bit to make it easier for her.

“Damn, do you work out or anything? Is this the natural you?” Gemma asked, taking the tie from him only to reach for Louis’ bicep and then poke at his pecs.

“Gemma!” Harry hissed, making his sister shrug and a deep blush rise onto Louis’ cheeks.

“Occassionaly I run,” Louis said quietly, “a few football games with the boys, but that’s about it.”

Gemma hummed again as she fixed the tie around Louis’ neck, not missing her little brothers not so subtle scowls. “There you are handsome, all set,” she said, patting Louis’ chest and moving away from him so Harry wouldn’t murder her.

Harry watched as Louis looked down at his tie, making sure it really was on right before picking his head up and smiling at him. He felt like he was barely breathing as he looked at the older lad, saw him in his sleek black suit with his hair made up into a quiff.

It was so different from the usual basketball shorts and tank top or simple t-shirt Louis wore on a daily basis. Granted, the older lad looked amazing in everything, be it Vans, converse, snapbacks, beanies, a white t-shirt and black shorts, Harry was stunned. But this… Well Harry wasn’t sure he’d make it through dinner with the way Louis was looking tonight.

“Alright, enough eye sex from you two, just go,” Gemma groaned from the couch. “Leave me and my ice cream and movies in peace, please,” she begged.

Harry felt his cheeks heat up as he heard his sister, and when he looked back at Louis he could see the older lad hiding his own blush. He let out a quiet laugh before scratching the back of his neck, smiling at Louis and nodding towards the door. And it was only a second later the older lad was walking towards him, taking his hand in his own and leading him into the hallway, but not before hearing “don’t fuck in the restaurant’s bathroom, they might kick you out!” yelled from Gemma.

The night went as planned, Harry and Louis taking a car to the restaurant and about three paps were waiting for them outside.

Harry kept a firm hand on the small of Louis’ back, still a bit weary about letting the men with cameras getting too close to him. Louis was polite enough though, offering them small smiles but kept close to Harry’s side as the younger lad led him towards the front door of the restaurant.

They didn’t say anything when the paps asked them questions or made comments. And when they began asking Louis questions, directing a lot of comments at him Harry slipped his hand into the older lad’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. But of course when he did that they only began asking more questions, and Harry thought that at this point they had more than what they needed, so he politely told the men with the flashing cameras to leave them to their night, and that was that.

The three men left with their cameras and Harry was able to open the door for Louis and get the older lad inside before anyone else on the street recognized them.

And of course as soon as they were inside Louis looked around the restaurant, only to insist that this was too fancy and that he should help pay, only getting an eye roll from Harry.

The two were showed to their table in the back dim lit corner of the room. Harry pulled out Louis’ chair for him and made sure he was okay before taking his seat across from him.

And to Harry the rest of the night was like any other. Even in the nice restaurant they couldn’t contain themselves, talking too loud or banging the table as they laughed at something one of them said.

Harry would catch himself staring at Louis’ lips for a good portion of the night, only to look back up to his eyes and see the older lad smirking at him before stretching his legs out under the table and tangling them together with his.

And all night, listening to Louis, just talking to him he felt lighter than air, felt like his feet weren’t touching the ground and his heart pounding steadily in his chest. But that’s just how it was with Louis, whether they were watching a movie on the couch, going on walks or eating in restaurants that required them to wear suits. And when Louis asked what Harry was doing when he saw the younger lad doing something under the table all Harry could do was sheepishly hold his [leather notebook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21mEkH3usQ4) up, making Louis roll his eyes. It wasn’t Harry’s fault when inspiration struck, and unlike most times he was actually willing to share what he was writing with the older lad, and when he did he was watching Louis’ face, waiting for his reaction.

When he saw Louis’ cheeks go bright red and a small smile on the older lad’s face Harry felt his own grin reaching his eyes. And to both boys’ surprises they had written a song together during dinner, and Harry didn’t think there was any better way to spend a date. 

To Harry it wasn’t even like writing a song, but more like just talking to Louis, saying what he wanted to in a different way. And he couldn’t get over how Louis understood what he was trying to say, how Louis understood his language.

When the pair were full of food and plenty of wine Harry got the check and helped Louis out of his chair before wrapping an arm around the older lad and leading him outside. And when they walked past the car Harry waved off the driver, making Louis confused before the younger lad started walking them down the sidewalk, just wanting to take the night in and get his daily walk in.

Louis had to make fun of him of course, but Harry knew that the older lad loved to walk as much as he did. With it being summer and just so warm and calm outside on the usual busy city street it was nice to take a step back and slow down for a little bit.

They walked with their hands joined between them, their sides pressed together and all the way back to the flat Harry was sure he muffled his laughs into Louis’ temple or hair too many times that it started becoming embarrassing. He blamed it on the alcohol though, it always made him a bit giggly.

There were other things he could blame the alcohol on too though. Like how as soon as they were inside his building he nearly dragged a laughing Louis into the lift and crashed their lips together, his hands finally on what he’s been wanting all night, travelling all over the older lad’s body, making him hum into his mouth.

At least Harry knew he wasn’t the only one who was eager. Louis’ hand was lost in his curls, the other on the small of his back, pressing their bodies together.

And when the lift doors opened Louis didn’t waste any time before pushing Harry into the hallway until the younger lad’s back hit the wall, making him gasp. Harry was already tugging on Louis’ tie, loosening his top buttons of his shirt as they stumbled down the hallway, trying to get to his flat.

He would be lying if he said that hasn’t been wanting this after last night. He could still feel the older lad’s warm skin under his fingertips, feel his hot breath on his neck and the way Louis’ hands would gently caress over him, his fingernails just barely grazing over him and into his skin.

And just at thinking about this Harry was already worked up. He could feel his pants begin to press against him, getting tighter and tighter. So when they crashed the flat door open Harry didn’t even hesitate before grabbing Louis’ waist and shoving him towards the couch.

The older lad was more than willing to follow wherever he was being tugged or pulled but when Harry was pushing him onto the couch Louis stilled as he heard a loud shriek.

“Holy shit, not on me you animals!!” Gemma yelled as she shot off the couch.

Louis immediately stood up and got out of Harry’s arms, his entire neck and face going bright red.

“Geez guys, c’mon I was sleeping,” Gemma groaned as she started stomping towards the hallway. “And promise not to be too loud!!”

Harry and Louis were breathing heavily, their clothes half hanging off them as they turned to each other, only to lunge back into one another’s arms and connect their lips again.

“I can’t promise her shit,” Harry muttered through a quiet laugh against Louis’ lips, making the older lad chuckle before he began to pull him towards his bedroom.

*~*

“Harry…?” Louis breathed out, his chest heaving, entire body sweaty and heart pounding.

Harry grunted, telling the older lad he was listening but kept his eyes closed as he came down from his high.

“Haz?” Louis said, this time rolling over on his side to face him and resting his chin on Harry’s shoulder.

“What?” Harry asked, turning his head and pushing his sweaty curls away from his face to see Louis.

Louis looked at him for a second, letting out a couple deep breaths before nuzzling his nose into the younger lad’s warm skin and bringing up his hand to rake his fingers through Harry’s hair.

“We’ve only known each other for three weeks,” he said so quietly it was barely a whisper, making Harry go still under him. “But already I just… I… I’ve never felt like this about someone before.”

Harry swallowed thickly, thinking back to what they wrote during dinner. The message was there, it was like the two exchanged notes in the lyrics but never openly said how they were feeling. But now Louis was doing just that, he was laying everything out on the table, taking the risk.

“Fuck, I’m gonna sound so crazy…” the older lad muttered, rubbing a hand over his face as he picked his head off of Harry’s shoulder. “I just… Shit, Harry I love you, okay? Like fuck it’s been weeks, it’s been three goddamn weeks and I’m saying this, this is nuts.”

Harry sat up as Louis did, watching as the older lad hid his face in his hands and carefully placed a gentle hand on his back. “Lou-”

“And you don’t have to say it back,” Louis interrupted, shaking his head.

“Well what if I want to?” Harry asked quietly, making the older lad snap his head up at him. “I mean I thought the song we wrote at dinner was kind of a dead give away,” he said through a small laugh, rubbing circles into Louis’ back to calm him down. “But I uhm… I love you too Louis… Even after putting up with you for three weeks.”

And even when Harry slightly teased him Louis had the widest smile on his face as he looked at the younger before leaning over to him and connecting their lips.

Harry couldn’t help but grin back as he kissed Louis and felt the older lad lay him back down on the bed. This is what he loved. The late night kisses, gentle touches, crazy confessions and just everything about Louis, everything he was.

“Does this mean I can call you my boyfriend now?” Louis asked as he slightly pulled away, his mouth ghosting over Harry’s as he smiled down at him.

“I guess,” Harry shrugged, trying to keep a serious face but Louis kissed it right off him.

“Even when you’re an idiot I love you,” Louis mumbled against his lips. “Shit it feels so good to say that now.”

And later if the two did it for the second time that night and Harry rode Louis until his thighs were shaking and, his breathing coming out in pants and his forehead dripping sweat at least he could come to the gasps of “I love you” being chanted over and over again from the older lad under him.

*~*

Harry let out a loud, long yawn as he stretched his arms over his head and shuffled down the hall.

His phone rang at 6 am, of course his record company being the only people cruel enough to have him up at this time. All they wanted was a meeting and Harry wished they just did it over the phone, it was completely pointless. All they wanted to know was their plan for handling what was happening and if they needed to fix anything, but once Harry explained what he and Niall arranged they nodded at him and sent him back home.

And for the second time Harry wasn’t able to wake up next to Louis. He guessed that the older lad was up as it was nearing 9 am and his suspicions were correct when he found the older lad and his sister sitting on the couch with teas in their hands and talking quietly.

“Morning,” he said groggily, kicking off his shoes and shuffling over to the couch only to drop himself in Louis’ lap and nuzzle his nose into his neck.

“Where were you? I tried calling you,” Louis said softly before kissing his temple and running his fingers through the back of his curls.

“Sorry I left my phone in the bathroom,” Harry muttered into his neck. “My record company wanted to meet with me quickly and talk about some stuff.”

“What stuff?” Gemma asked before sipping her tea.

“Media stuff, album stuff, tour stuff,” Harry shrugged.

“When do you go on tour?” Gemma asked with furrowed eyebrows. “Maybe I can work some time into my schedule and travel with you for a bit since you’ll be gone for a couple months.”

Harry had to think about it for a moment, his mind going blank with how tired he was. “Uhm in three weeks I think, I dunno something like that. They said they might add a few more dates in the beginning of the tour because apparently the public are calming down and I’m actually gaining more fans now that more people know who I am.”

“So if they add more dates how long till you leave?” Gemma asked, finding this more and more confusing but tried to keep up.

“If they add the dates then two more weeks,” Harry breathed out. “One week after the album releases, and I’ll basically spend that one week rehearsing and going over guitar stuff with Ed.”

Gemma groaned, hating this time crunch probably more than her brother did. “How long will you be gone for this time?”

“First leg is gonna be four months,” Harry said, already hating the sound of all of the travel, airport food and jet lag he knew he would face.

“Four months?”

Harry didn’t even notice Louis go still under him until he saw the older lad’s eyes wide and his jaw slack. And when he nodded at him all Louis did was open and close his mouth before shaking his head and gently pushing Harry off his lap.

As if on cue Gemma stood up from the couch and made her way down the hall, figuring the two had to talk.

“When were you gonna tell me?” Louis barely whispered. “Were you going to at all?”

“Of course I was Louis.”

Louis looked at him for a moment, his mouth open like he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

“I was just waiting till-”

“Till what?!” Louis asked cutting him off, his voice coming out annoyed. “You were waiting until you told me you loved me just so you could fucking leave for four months?!”

“Louis you knew I was going on tour, it’s not like this was some big surprise,” Harry said softly, wanting him to calm down.

“Yeah but I thought it’d be like you were in England for a few weeks, then maybe a couple days in Ireland, days I could see you, could come with you!” Louis raised his voice slightly, pushing himself off the couch and began pacing the living room.

Harry bit his lip as he looked up at Louis and even at a short glance he could see that the older lad was furious. He’s never seen Louis mad, not once, and it wasn’t something he knew how to handle, if he could handle it at all.

“Lou just breathe yeah? I mean we’ll be okay, right?”

“Harry you’re fucking leaving for four months!!” Louis yelled, making the younger lad jump. He shoved his face into his hands, letting out a few deep breaths, trying his hardest to calm down. “We’re together for how long? Officially dating as of last night and then this shit…”

“Babe…” Harry said softly, reaching up and grabbing the older lad’s arm. “C’mon just talk to me, relax a little bit and we can discuss this.”

“Discuss what Harry? You’re leaving, that’s it,” Louis said, shaking his head.

Harry let out a quiet breath before pulling on Louis’ arm, getting him to sit back down on the couch. “What’re you thinking about?” he asked quietly. “What are you so scared of?”

Louis bit his lip, shaking his head again as he turned away from Harry and shoved his face in his hands. “All of this is happening so fast,” he said just loud enough for the younger lad to hear. “And I’m terrified it will end just as fast… You’re gonna be gone and I’ll be here and then what?”

Harry looked at the older lad as he refused to pick his head up, and thought about what he said, thinking that maybe Louis had a point.

“I just feel like we have absolutely no control over what’s going on and when you leave it’ll all fall apart,” Louis muttered into his hands.

Harry let out a deep breath, trying to think of what to do as he rubbed the older lad’s back. He wished he could slow it all down, make it so all of this wasn’t happening at once.

“Come with me,” Harry said quietly, making Louis pick his head up and look to him. “Come on tour with me, you can be on stage with me and perform songs with me and that way we won’t be apart.”

Louis sat there still for a moment, just looking at Harry and not saying a word.

Harry didn’t know if Louis was thinking about it or if the older lad was completely freaked out at the idea. It wasn’t like it was a bad idea, if anything Harry thought it could get more tickets to be sold. The fans that were sending Louis hate backed off a bit, there were still some but there always would be, and overall the public and media seemed to be adjusting nicely to the idea of them. And once they find out that Louis co-wrote more than half the album Harry was sure the older lad’s popularity would rise that much more. But not only that, he could be with Louis. Every single day, just them.

“So?” he asked with raised eyebrows. “I mean I know you’d just be leaving the life you have here for a little bit, but if you’re scared about us falling apart then come, try it out. And if you don’t want to stay or something just come back home, I won’t mind...”

Louis shifted his eyes to the floor as he ran a hand through his hair, now Harry could see he was really thinking about it.

But after a couple minutes of silence and every second Harry growing more and more worried Louis finally looked back to him before nodding and trying to bite back a smile. And when the older lad confirmed it, actually said “okay”, Harry couldn’t help himself but lunge into his boyfriend’s arms and kiss him all over his face.

That not only being the good thing that came out of today, but by the end of the night they had [two](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jfJ1DH4q1k) more [songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0KsiAzvGpE) written, and recorded what they needed to, making a complete album. And if getting Gemma, Niall, Liam, and Zayn to go out with them and get drunk wasn’t celebration enough then Harry didn’t know what was.

*~*

**1 Month Later**

“Madison Square Garden!!” Harry yelled into his microphone as he rested his guitar behind his back, making the crowd scream and cheer at the top of their lungs. “How we doin so far? Not getting too bored are we?” he asked through a small laugh, only earning more screams.

“That’s what I like to hear!!” Harry said, only to point his microphone to the crowd and allow their cheers to echo through the speakers. “Alright, alright we have a special guest coming-” but he was cut off by the loudest yells of the night, the place going absolutely crazy.

“Told you they liked me more than you.”

Harry turned around and saw Louis coming onto stage with his own microphone attached over his ear so he had the use of his hands. And at the sight of the older lad everyone was going bizerk. Some screaming, yelling, laughing, a few even crying.

“Ladies and gentlemen the one and only Louis Tomlinson!!” Harry introduced through a wide smile, only to see Louis wave at the crowd with his own grin reaching his eyes.

The first night they had a concert Louis was a nervous wreck, almost refused to go on stage. But now he was a natural at it, he loved it even. Loved hearing the crowd's reaction as they played a certain song or how they laughed at his jokes or the way Harry and him would begin bickering on stage in front of everyone, only for them watch, more than entertained with the two.

“Alright Hazza, what do we think we want to play first?” Louis asked as he walked over to his rack of instruments.

He had his cello, violin, guitar, they even had drums set up and a large grand piano on the stage, all for Louis.

“You know Lou I’ve seen on Twitter that people want to see you play a bit more guitar. They want to know if I’m better than you,” Harry said, raising his eyebrows challengingly.

“That so?” Louis asked through a quiet laugh, picking up his guitar and slinging it over his shoulder. “Well then, let’s settle it. Go ahead popstar, you first,” he smiled to himself gesturing towards the front of the stage, making the audience cheer.

Harry winked at him, earning an eye roll from the older lad before he stepped up and tapped his foot on one of his loop station pedals so it would record. He gently hit the body of guitar, getting a beat going before he looped it out and began building on top of it.

“That’s not fair! Mines not hooked up to the station you cheater!!” Louis said wide eyed as he watched his boyfriend making a rhythm on top of another, it already sounding amazing.

“You know I play dirty Lou. I’ll do anything to win,” Harry said through a wide smile as he finished picking his pattern only to start strumming on top of it, knowing he had this in the bag.

“Oh trust me love, I know how dirty you can get,” Louis said through a small smirk and looked into the camera that showed feed on the big screen and winked at it, making the crowd go crazy.

Harry nearly choked on his spit as he heard that and as a result he messed up, only for his loop station to record it. “Louis!!” he said wide eyed.

“What?” Louis asked innocently. “Sounds like you messed up a bit there babe. Too bad it’s my turn,” and it was only a second later Louis tapped his foot on the loop station to turn it off, but then began recording his own beat on the device.

“You said it wasn’t hooked up!!” Harry said, now feeling completely sabbotoged.

“Oh, did I?” Louis asked as if he doesn’t remember saying such a thing, making the audience laugh.

Harry was about to protest, but then he recognized what Louis was playing. He heard the picking part loop over and over again on the station and once it was set Louis winked at him before pulling off his guitar, only to grab his violin and go back to the pedals.

The older lad nodded at him and Harry couldn’t help but smile to himself as he rolled his eyes at his boyfriend and began playing a different rendition of Firefly.

Harry turned off the loop so he could start playing it himself, this song not needing it and when he did so Louis watched for him and began playing as Harry picked. Louis' wrist moving in a smooth motion, his bow gently caressing over his strings as he swayed with the beat.

The crowd had gone near quiet, just watching the two on stage. Louis’ slow drawls on the violin as Harry picked and sang, the older lad giving him backup vocals and it all blended, coming out smooth, soft and beautiful. And when Harry looked over at Louis, his hair swept over his forehead and the stage glow illuminating over him he saw that he already had the older lad’s attention, his eyes as bright as a firefly’s light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you thought !! Kudos and comments are always appreciated as well :)) I'm also on Tumblr as lhstylinson9193 !!


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